


Fate: Kill

by Parcasious



Category: Akame ga Kill! (Anime & Manga), Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Action, F/M, Magic, Multi, Thriller, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 107,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24205156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parcasious/pseuds/Parcasious
Summary: Death and corruption. A rotting Empire, and a man who would sit at the heart of a revolution. In a dark world of constant death and deceit, what place will a man whose only wish was to save others be able to carve out for himself?
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

A youth of eighteen sat crouched on the ground in the midst of an early morning, the smell of dew in the wind travelling far out.

His hands clasped together in a silent sign of respect towards the gravestones in front of him, the stones neither too lavish nor too poor, but simply ordinary. Then again, this was the kind of grave the people now buried would have had wanted, and that alone was enough. Other than the carvings in which he had meticulously laboured by hand, the rest of the granite-like stone remained untouched, the edges of the stone naturally smoothened by the wind and rain. It was why he didn't hesitate to use them the moment had had found them.

A breeze blew past, the sounds of birds chirping in the trees and the arrival of strong rays of sunlight alerting him that he no longer had much time remaining before he had to uphold his other responsibilities.

Therefore, it was time to go.

Shirou sighed while standing up from his crouched position, the dampness of the soil beneath him having stained his pant-legs to a moderate shade of brown with the dirt that clung to them.

He didn't particularly mind it as he simply brushed the grime off with his hands, but the aide behind him very much cared for the state of his appearance.

She was young, just barely passed seventeen and wearing leather-bound trousers held together by lace and a matching blouse whose colour was already fading. Her hair was cropped to one side, and the length of her bangs was long enough to cover a side of her face, giving her a certain allure that emphasized her eyes. They were the distinct colour of blue.

"Lord," she called out pensively. "You really should maintain your appearance. The village ceremony to acknowledge you as the village head is tonight."

He nodded to her words but could only smile wryly at her.

Her name was Elaine Bukerfield, the only daughter amongst a family filled with boys that had always served as a close companion with the previous Lord of the village. Now her family's loyalty lied with him, the next successor.

"It'll be fine Elaine, and besides you know I'm not too much for formal events," he reasoned.

"Which is why I was reminding you so that you can better yourself." Elaine crossed her arms and snorted before her expression grew somber. "It's what I promised your father before his passing."

A silence filled the area, both of their gazes fixed onto the two gravestones.

They were the graves for his father and mother, or at least the ones that had born him into this current world. To be honest, he wasn't certain about what happened to somehow end up in his current position, but what he did know was that he had died once before. Perhaps then, some higher power had deemed him fit to be reborn as the young Lord of a small village in the woods, but then again, the situation was filled with its own troubles.

Both of his parents had died just recently of old age, the two birthing children too far into their thirties. It was a miracle that they had been able to live until forty-eight with the current age of the world which appeared to be in a renaissance-like time period. Current life expectancy itself was only estimated to be at forty years. Regardless of any miracles though, they had still died; leaving him to deal with the workings of the village and at the same time care for his two siblings barely five years old.

He closed his eyes and reviewed the information he knew before setting his resolve.

In this new world, the village he was raised in was located at the very boundary of a country known as the Empire, and the twenty-two Nations of Wakoku. Food was barely getting by, and money was even worse.

If he couldn't find any alternatives soon, then he may have to consider heading to the capital of the Empire for work. Yet he couldn't leave his siblings behind either.

He opened his eyes, looking at the graves in front of him, at the parents who had cared for him.

They had only asked of him one request before their deaths.

Take care of his two siblings, and to do that, he needed to solve his current predicament.

His fists clenched together, a sword given purpose.

He would find a way.

It was a promise.

"It's time to leave," he called to Elaine. "There's preparations to be done."

* * *

By the time the village inauguration had completed, it was nearing the late hours of the evening. Bonfires were still lit from the distant reception hall, and the glowing flames created a dull orange hue in the darkness of the nights, the stars above an idyllic backdrop to what he considered a long day.

Elaine was no longer attending to him as he had already persuaded her to head home; knowing how protective her older brothers and father were about her mingling too late in the night, she had no choice. To be honest though, her family had no problems if it were just him that she was in the company of, but after the recent ceremony, many of the single-men who had attended were loitering.

Therefore, it was too dangerous in the eyes of the Bukerfield family.

Words could not describe the frustration that had ignited in Elaine's eyes when he had sent her off. All he knew was that the Bukerfield family would inevitably be having a sleepless night.

As for him, he had his own situation to deal with.

Upon passing down the paved streets and brick homes leading to his parent's manor, he paused right outside of its door before relaxing himself and entering.

Inside was a warm living room with furnished chairs and recliners huddled around a warm fireplace.

Near the hearth were two children, his siblings he had obtained in his new life.

Artus and Anna, the both of them twins named by their mother.

They were rather short, just barely passed his knees and both dressed in soft fabrics that he had once worn when he was younger. They were coloured blue and red respectively, coloured string used to hold the garments together.

The two noticed him from the moment he opened the door, their gold-coloured eyes widening in excitement as they rushed over.

"You're back!" They called, clinging onto his legs.

He had left them for most of the day, but they were rather reserved for their age and he trusted them not to get into trouble.

"I'm back, but I won't be going anywhere until the both of you let go," he said, ruffling their heads of red hair. "Besides, even if I'm back, the both of you know that we can't play right now. It's almost time for the two of you to sleep."

Artus grumbled at his response, but Artus's attention shifted away when Artus's eyes landed on the small wooden sword he had gotten for Artus.

"M-Mine?" Artus asked.

He simply nodded his head and gave the gift he had prepared at the end of the ceremony. With their parents gone, he had to impart some skill to his siblings so that they could better protect themselves. Starting early was for the best.

The two children watched in a daze as he coaxed himself out of their grips and gently placed the wooden swords in their palms. "My gift," was all he said.

In the end, it was enough of an offering to take the attention of two five-year old's away from him long enough for him to change and get comfortable.

It was then however, that a knock echoed at the front door.

His brows furrowed together, lips thinning as he couldn't think of any person he knew that would visit him at this time of the night.

Subsequently, Artus and Anna ceased in their playing when the knocking continued, their eyes falling on him and watching what he would do.

Of course, he stood up and walked towards the door, a soft azure glow suffusing his eyes as he readied his magic at a moment's notice. It was his biggest trump card, and something he knew that no inhabitant of this new world possessed. Generally, he wouldn't be this cautious as he had always been a trusting person, but he had children he had to watch out for in his current life.

He opened the door, only to see a man he was familiar with.

The man's appearance was particularly menacing, scars running across a chiseled and tanned face, while the trench-coat-like military garments worn over a vest hid his other features.

The man didn't speak, merely stood there, his intentions already known.

This man was his father's acquaintance. Someone his father had described as a passed friend, but incessantly warned Shirou and his siblings to stay away from, no matter how much the man wanted to meet Shirou.

After all, Shirou was famous for another reason other than being the village head's son.

He was called a Miracle Healer, someone who could even aid an individual on the verge of death.

Then again, this title was one Shirou had never intended on obtaining. It was just that when his mother had fallen drastically sick after Artus and Anna's birth, he had no choice but to act. Thus, without anyone noticing how he had done it, he had traced a mystic code with the simple property of healing; leading to his mother's recovery and his hailing as a Miracle Healer for curing a woman other doctors procured by his father had deemed incurable.

For this very reason, his expertise was sought out by this acquaintance of his father.

Yet his father had never allowed a meeting. After all, even if Shirou didn't know the name of the man in front of him, he knew by experience that this man was a Killer.

A man who'd spilled enough blood to stain his hands for an eternity.

There was an aura of death that exuded from him with a silent ferocity that inadvertently terrified Artus and Anna, the two sticking to Shirou's legs, wooden swords left forgotten.

Shirou however was more experienced. He looked past the man's chaotic aura and instead detected weariness and exhaustion, something he realized was all too similar to the disposition of a step-father he once knew.

_A cold-blooded killer, yet one with the purest of motivation and dreams._

Someone who had grown tired after long, long years, and had only then seen the error of his ways.

Yet there was no longer any turning back, the events of the past unable to be changed.

One could only live in redemption, and this was the very feeling Shirou was able to understand from the man before him.

"Come in," he said, his sudden invitation causing the man to visibly startle. "I'll treat the wound."

Experienced as the man was, the man was quick to compose himself, stepping into the warm home and staring blankly at Shirou who merely placed a hand over the man's chest.

Closing his eyes, Shirou accessed his magecraft. A magic that could recreate any number of sword or weapons he had ever seen including the special properties that may belong to them. Mystic codes and Noble Phantasms for example that each possessed unique powers could be traced.

In this case, from the moment Shirou had stretched his hand forward, he had already traced the particular mystic code he needed for healing. It was a mystic code that healed old scars and injuries generally impossible to recover from. After all, the problem with most old injuries wasn't that they didn't heal, it was that some may not have healed properly.

After first scrutinizing the man, Shirou had already understood that the root of the problem lay exactly in an old injury. Therefore, he simply got to work before the man's prompting and explanation.

This inadvertently, solidified the man's belief in Shirou's title of a mysterious Miracle Healer whose means were impossible to discern. To begin with, the man had assumed that Shirou was in possession of something called a Teigu, but clearly this wasn't the case.

It was almost magical how the man could feel a steady and pleasant flow of energy pour into him.

Yet on another point, the man was inwardly moved. He was a sinner, a man who had killed so many individuals that he couldn't even count, and only just recently did he realize the weight of his actions. Still, from his demeanor, to his reputation, none should have had so openly placed their faith in him to heal a man of his character without question. Thinking further on the fact that Shirou and the siblings behind him were children of his past comrade, he made an oath to himself.

"You have my gratitude," the man said deeply as Shirou retracted his hand.

Shirou only nodded his head, watching as the man got up to leave, yet paused at the door.

"Your father," the man said softly, almost regretfully. "He was a good man, and I swear that none will be able to make your lives difficult with his absence. I swear it."

Following the man's words was an air of murderousness that stifled the surroundings, but through it, Shirou could sense the purpose the man now seemed to carry; the weariness and exhaustion replaced by a new-found resolve.

He would protect them.

As the audible sound of the door clicking closed echoed in the house, Shirou silently led his siblings into bed, realizing that the two may have had had enough for the night.

Clearly though, he was wrong.

The two stared at him blankly after he tucked them into bed, Anna fidgeting every so often and bumping into Artus who glowered in response.

"Why did you help him?" Anna asked curiously, gaining Artus's attention as well. "Daddy said that he was a bad man."

He paused just as he was about to leave the room. Anna's question was indeed valid and he couldn't just not answer her especially when it concerned something so important. As he deliberated on an answer, he realized something fundamental while staring at the innocent gazes of the five-year-old's in front of him.

Not only did he have to take care of them, but he also had to raise them.

To teach them not to walk upon the wrong path.

"You help those who need help," he began, expression somber. "And you save those who need saving even if they offer you nothing in return."

Even if the people saved weren't innocent, he believed in the fact that people could change. Death shouldn't have to solve anything. More than that though, there was a larger reason.

One that was the most important.

"But why?" Anna asked, the confusion on her face evident as she knit her brows together.

He smiled, knowing that what he said would take time for his sibling to truly understand.

For now, he would give them a simpler answer.

"Because little ones," he said, walking closer and patting their heads.

"That's what Heroes do."

* * *

Elsewhere, a figure dashed through the shadows of the trees before stopping near the borders of the village described in her intelligence report, her red eyes scanning the image of her target.

Her expression was emotionless, a calm mask of indifference that could frighten even the most hardened of men. It didn't help that the sword she carried at her side shone in an ominous light.

To begin with, she wasn't meant to be sent to this remote location as her field of operation was located in the heart of the Capital of the Empire, but her strength was necessary in this case. The target ranked too highly to be handled by the other team.

Thus, it was up to her.

Her gaze shifted to the moon, she the owl that hunts in the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Night had always been something of a calling, but it wasn't one she ever found truly pleasant. Instead, it was accompanied by the bitterness of a cold professionalism that resulted from a childhood she was far from inclined to share.

Her name was Akame. Simple as that. There was no need to refer to herself with a family name as her parents themselves had sold her and her little sister off for profit.

Then again, she could understand why they had done so to a certain extent just by looking at the current state of the Empire, the world's Super Power boasting vast territories and riches. Fertile lands, rich natural resources of fruit and berries, and even idyllic lakeside establishments, had created an extensive panorama of an ideal kingdom.

Yet it was a lie.

No matter how true it may have had been before, the current Empire was in an incurable state of decline. Money was being squandered, people starving on the streets, and corrupt politicians and officials profiting for backhanded deals and misconducts. Civil strife was the best way to put it, and the current situation was already beyond that.

A Civil War against the head of state.

The Empire against the Revolutionary Army.

The worst offender was the Empire's Prime Minister himself, Honest, the direct advisor of the young and naïve child that had taken up the role as the next emperor. She didn't even know this child's name, but it didn't matter as the Emperor himself wasn't the problem.

It was the fact that the Emperor blindly trusted his Advisor, Honest.

Through this fact, a number of atrocities the past Emperors would never have had allowed to occur remained ignorant in the eyes of the child who was supposed to rule the Empire.

She sighed thinking over her current situation, but more importantly, it was because she couldn't see a future other than her own death.

She was an assassin, a profession with almost a full certainty of death. She was part of the Revolutionary Army under a separate covert division called Night Raid under the command of one of the Empire's defected commanders, Najenda.

Her group's task was to handle reconnaissance and assassinations within the capital of the Empire and retrieve any Teigu that they may stumble upon.

Tiegu themselves were called Imperial Arms, items imbued with special properties that enabled them to perform tasks and abilities generally impossible. They could both be living or inanimate, it didn't really matter for the most part. What did matter was that their relative strength was dependant on the remains of the Danger Beasts they were created from. The stronger the Danger Beast, the more lethal the Teigu created.

Having made forty-eight in total, a number of Teigu had been lost over the years due to conflict, but generally the more Teigu one side possessed, the greater advantage they would gain. In this case, this was directly related to the core strength of the Revolutionary Army, and as such had significance for Night Raid to directly contribute.

She herself was the owner of one.

Murasame, the blade whose cut meant certain death.

A katana-type weapon. It was a sleek black in colour, and anyone cut by it would receive a poisonous curse that spread throughout the victim's body. Thereby stopping the heart in a matter of seconds.

The number of people she had killed by its edge was already enough for her to have had grown numb. There would be no redemption when she died. All that would be waiting for her was a hell suitable for the sins she had committed in her life, yet she didn't care at this point.

She landed softly on the forested ground of the worn path created by wandering merchants and travellers, and slowly draped a hood over her head.

It was in the middle of the night, the moon above shining down from the forest canopy. The sound of insects and scurrying rodents echoed around, causing her ears to twitch every now and again as she was accustomed to detecting subtle movements. The again, she could just be over reacting, but as she was now, she understood that even in the darkness, the silkiness of her dark hair reflected a dull glow under the light of the evening. Even with her hood up, her hair still spilled down from the sides, long tresses of untangled and straight locks swaying with her every step as she maintained a downward gaze.

She knew that the town she was approaching was relatively remote, making it unlikely for anyone to recognize her, yet she was still being cautious.

This was a relatively new town created near the very borders of the Empire and directly near the states of Wakoku. As such, wanted posters and general news of the Empire hardly ever made its way to such a remote location, yet perhaps that was the reason it was founded so far.

Najenda had explained to her that the man who established this small town at the border was a former general before the start of the Civil War with the Revolutionary Army. In a way, by choosing to live so far from the Empire it was clear that this old war veteran wanted him and his family to stay out of the Empire's corruption and Civil Strife.

Unfortunately, this wasn't going to be how it would play out.

Unhurriedly, she once again glanced at a piece of paper before reaffirming the tracks left behind by her target. They were small things like foot prints, and general information gathered from local passerby's.

His name was Edwin Pollus, a man that had once been subordinate to the founder of the border town, though from rumours alone she understood that the two broke off on bad terms.

Then again, it didn't really matter.

After the Old General had left to live a secluded life before the start of the Civil War, Edwin had taken the Old General's place for the Empire. Edwin alone commanded a unit of the Empire's forces to kill numerous allies in the Revolutionary Army before incurring injury.

The man had never been the same since, but his threat level never dissipated. Now that sources had verified that Edwin had moved alone out of the Capital and towards this border town, Night Raid couldn't let this chance go.

Therefore, Akame was sent.

Her eyes maintained her vigilance as soon as she entered the town. People were bustling about on the dirt road and many were in a drunken stupor.

She furrowed her brows, her red eyes straining to follow the correct pair of tracks left behind from the man she had been following for several hours. It was a dirt road, and there were numerous pairs of foot prints to track. Wasting only a second longer, she quickly came to a conclusion.

As she expected, it was impossible.

Frowning, she couldn't help but sigh.

Generally, when night came most of the roads and streets would be devoid of individuals, but the current situation was almost equivalent to the Capital's night life. There were too many people.

It wasn't long before she understood why.

The Old General that had founded this town had passed away, leaving the town's succession to the eldest son, Shirou who many locals approved of.

Akame however saw things differently. It was normal for the son to take after the father, but this Shirou was known for another name in the town.

A local Healer.

A miracle worker at that who could save others from the brink of death.

There had even been a story where a man had taken a sword through the chest but turned out fine the next day.

She pursed her lips, the motion causing dimples to form on her cheeks.

This story was incomprehensible for a swordswoman like herself, for she understood just how long a sword's stab wound would take to heal. Not even counting the days required for recuperation, the damage done could at time be irreparable, the swordswoman never again being able to move in the same way.

To say that it had only taken a day for a full recovery, Akame would never believe that. What she would believe instead was that the Old General may had possessed a Teigu with healing capabilities before the Old General had left the capital.

Silently, she took note to inform Najenda of the matter upon her return as it was a likely assumption.

Still, she had had her priorities, and right now it was locating Edwin.

Glancing around her and waiting until the crowds had thinned, she silently took to the rooftops, deciding to move at random in search of any clues.

Her efforts would prove fruitful though after a grueling three hours of constant surveying.

Footprints. Deep and etched with a particular design at the soles of the feet. A criss-crossed pattern that cemented itself in the mud leading to a single home down the street at a distant part of the town.

She paused, mentally analyzing the map of the town she had inadvertently developed in her three hours of scouting. If she understood things correctly, then the building Edwin had gone to was the Old General's home.

Regardless, her expression remained blank, a cold yet alluring beauty unknowingly attracting the enamored gazes of some of the drunken youths nearby. But when next these youths blinked their eyes, Akame was already gone.

She could understand why Edwin would want to visit the Old general as the Old General had been Edwin's mentor, but she also knew that the two were on bad terms still.

It just didn't make sense to her, but it didn't change what she had to do. She had lost Edwin for good couple of hours and she needed to investigate to discover some clues to his whereabouts.

How troublesome.

Mentally, she couldn't help but wonder why she couldn't have had been a bit faster to intercept Edwin before he had arrived at the town. Everything would have had been easier. A single opponent in the dead of the night.

A one vs one scenario.

It was truly regretful that it had instead become a game of cat and mouse.

She knew it was hopeless to mope on the matter, but a part of her would rather be eating her dinner at the moment rather than doing her current assignment.

Still, she was a professional and quickly made her way towards the building. It was old, yet larger than the others for it was the town Lord's manor. It was constructed mainly of fashioned brick and stone and insulated with a type of packed clay that was spread out in a layer beneath the outer thatch.

Just when she entered the actual premise, she suddenly stiffened.

A chill seemed to travel down her back, goosebumps spreading across her skin.

"What?" She muttered to herself in confusion, staring at her unsteady hands.

It was a feeling of trepidation and apprehension that she had not felt in numerous years.

Not since the forest of Danger Beasts, and it unnerved her.

She quickly dug her feet into the ground and halted, a weariness flashing across her features even as a cloud of dust drifted over her due to her sudden stopping.

It was almost like magic. There had been nothing in front of her, but it almost felt as if she had passed some kind of barrier surrounding this plain, if rather large manor.

She simply couldn't explain it.

Her years of experience were already warning her to not take another step forward as she was already in a state of confusion, but she had a mission to complete.

Her breathing steadied, a sharp glint entering her eyes as she asserted that she herself was no pushover. However dangerous it could be, at least she was confident in her ability to escape.

Tentatively she proceeded forward, her vigilance increasing by the second.

It was only when she discreetly slipped inside the premise that she somewhat relaxed. The pressure that she had been feeling was somehow greatly weakened at the moment. Looking around her, she saw a fairly normal room with fur-lined furniture and an assortment of child's toys still clattered on the ground.

Her expression softened seeing them, but she then shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

She was there to find clues anyway.

She muffled her steps as she began peering around.

There wasn't anything of note, and she quickly decided that the best course of action was to search another room, but instead of leaving, her hands swiftly hovered over the hilt of her sword.

_It was a pair of bronze coloured eyes._

They lay still, yet their steady gaze became piercing in the darkness of the room.

She hadn't noticed them at first, but that was due to the ease in which they seemed to blend in with the surroundings. In fact, if not for Murasame thrumming softly, she wouldn't even have had noticed.

She swallowed, her gaze however still remained passive.

It was part of the training program that changed her life.

Why show emotion when it wouldn't matter in death?

There was no use for anything like that in the environment she had been raised in. Instead of panicking or expressing surprise, it was better to mask indifference to deter the opponent's mental state and confidence.

Signs of fear would only hasten death.

Silence.

Not a word was spoken.

Only the sound of a blade being drawn.

Murasame thrummed in her hands, the Imperial Arm emitting a certain aura about it that she had never seen before. It was almost as if it was reacting to the steady gaze that shifted towards it. Black tendrils of magic-like aura extended out from it, tinged with red in a provoking manner.

Sweat began to moisten her palms, but her grip on her sword remained as tight as ever.

The man in front of her clearly wasn't her target, but this man brought a pressure that was unimaginable.

From the information she had attained, she had already assumed that this man in front of her was probably the newest Lord of the town. The son of the Old General of the Empire.

Shirou if she recalled.

She knew that her situation wasn't good. There was no way that she could just explain that she was looking for Edwin after intruding into another person's home in the middle of the night.

Thus, she said nothing, silently contemplating to herself of the chances of knocking Shirou out and then making her escape.

As Shirou was simply a civilian despite the aura he possessed, she was almost certain of her own success. She had trained for years and experienced some of the harshest of challenges. For a civilian without combat experience to best her, she would truly be a joke if she lost. To begin with, she herself knew that she was rather socially awkward and wouldn't want a full conversation unless necessary. Therefore, if knocking him out cold could solve her current problem, then so be it.

Her muscles tensed, her intent manifesting in the gleam of light that shone on Murasame's blade.

However, there was something in the way Shirou was looking at her that caused her to hesitate. He was too calm, expression unchanging even as she lowered herself into an attacking stance.

Alarm bells were already ringing in her head, but she was stubborn and wanted to stick with the decision she had already made. Her body had even already begun to inch forward,

Only his voice stopped her in her tracks.

"I suggest you don't move," he said evenly. "You may regret it afterwards."

_?_

Her brows furrowed, but she understood at the next moment when she felt a prick near the back of her neck, causing her eyes to widen as a still wind parted her hair.

It was all too familiar.

A sensation that was hard not to determine.

The cold point of a blade.

Yet it was impossible.

She was confident that she would have had detected it if anyone were to sneak up on her. She had trained too long for her not to. Even till now, no one she knew possessed that level of skill.

Slowly, she turned around, her body feeling numb as she stared long and hard, a dull expression making its way onto her pale face followed by a seriousness that couldn't be explained in words.

For a sword remained floating just behind her head.

Many of them hovering in the dark.

In the end, just what kind of Teigu was this?

It was the only explanation she could think of before fully realizing her situation. She wasn't certain of her chances of winning, but there was no need to take a risk against an unknown Teigu whose wielder may not even be an enemy.

It was just that the situation was really just too awkward, and she would rather not explain.

Still, helpless to avoid a confrontation, she could keep her silence no longer.

"This is a misunderstanding," She conceded unwillingly, sword sheathing and voice monotone.


	3. Chapter 3

The subsequent silence in the room was only echoed by the noise of crickets rubbing their wings together in the tall grass of the yard; the window Akame had entered through left open and funneling the sound throughout the house's interior.

He didn't know what to make of her at first. Yet experience told him what he needed to know from her cold disposition.

A trained killer.

An assassin.

This wouldn't be the first time he had seen one. In fact, it was better to say that he had once lived with one. His past life's adopted father, Kiritsugu Emiya, a man whose notorious renown amongst the magic community landed him the title of the Magus Killer. A special designation earned after his numerous successful 'hits' against other mages.

In that regard, he might have had been the same in the eyes of the aristocratic magical families whose lineage spanned for several centuries. There was a reason he was dubbed with the moniker of the 'Second Magus Killer,' but then again, his targets had always been the one's who took their magecraft too far and effected the innocents.

Yet he digressed, those were memories to reminisce for another time. What mattered was the knowledge he could infer from them. Kiritsugu had many habits that were distinct from normal civilians.

Kiritusgu didn't talk much, rather he was socially awkward.

He preferred quiet places and would often look at others with a detached expression in his eyes. The sheer indifference commonplace amongst assassins. Furthermore, the only times the detached expression would leave his eyes was only when he shifted his gaze to the west, a trace of murderous intent filtering across them that Kiritsugu would never act upon.

Akame in comparison was tame. She still looked at things with the softness of one whose heart had yet to grow numb.

He had seen the way her taut expression softened when she had noticed the toys that his sibling had left lying on the ground. In fact, he had even carefully noted how she had stayed as far away from Artus and Anna's shared room as possible.

His impression of her had already shifted into something more positive at that point compared to when he had first sensed her cross the bounded field he had set up. Bounded fields were a type of magecraft based on topography which all magi knew how to establish to secure the location of their workshop. Naturally, he was no different, third-rate as many had once called him, but he liked to consider himself as specialized instead.

The point of the matter however was what he had felt while Akame triggered the surveillance function of his bounded field.

Killing intent.

It was why he had sprung into action so quickly, only to reassess his judgment after observing Akame.

Assassin though she may be, possessing a frigid disposition and apathetic regard, she was unable to hide her true personality. Everything he had silently inferred about her led him to the conclusion that she wasn't as unfeeling as she may have had appeared.

With the sheathing of her weapon, he too was quick to dismiss the swords he had created in the air using his magecraft; an art called Tracing which allowed him to manifest any weapon he had ever seen as a short overview of the skill.

As his traced swords vanished into mots of blue flickering light, he took keen note of the way Akame stared unblinkingly at them. Despite living in the world for eighteen years already, he wasn't clear on the aspect of what locals thought of magic. Worse, because of the relative isolation of the border town his deceased father had founded, his periodic displays of magecraft used as tests were taken as miracles by the common folk instead. In which case, he couldn't ascertain if magic was common place in the new world at all.

For Akame, it was probably different for her. Just the attire he could make out from beneath the cloak she wore denoted her foreignness to the border town. Her knowledge about the world must have had extended farther than his town's people.

Hopeful, he maintained his silence, waiting for her to speak first.

When all traces of the swords disappeared, Akame released a breath she didn't know that she had been holding before staring at him critically. The expression on her face was enough to inwardly excite him as it seemed as if she may know something in regards to magic. Yet, the words that came out of her mouth left him at a loss.

"What Teigu is that?" She asked, not daring to move while remaining vigilant of the air around her.

_Teigu? What's a Teigu?_

He didn't let his confusion show on his face, but he didn't answer the question either because it would only give away his lack of knowledge.

What he could see from Akame was that she regarded him with an air of mysteriousness that made her wary. In fact, he was half-certain that if she wasn't cautious of him she wouldn't have had conceded so quickly. As such, before he too could determine her capabilities, it was best to leave a certain level of intrigue about himself.

Therefore, he dodged the question by deflecting.

"And what business do you have by intruding into my family's home armed?" He replied back.

Akame's lips pursed together, her antisocial tendencies making her distinctly uncomfortable.

"Mission," was the only word that left her mouth, her voice monotone. "Teigu?" She tried again.

He shook his head, making it clear that he wouldn't elaborate on the topic.

She fell silent as a result, he unsure of what exactly she was thinking, but she _did_ drop the matter.

"You are an assassin?" He questioned.

Akame only nodded.

"Target came here," she said, eyes still glancing occasionally into the air out of precaution. "I'm searching for clues."

He fell into contemplation as he processed the words he heard, and it didn't take him long to understand just who the target was. His brows furrowed, his lips slightly curving down.

The target she must have had spoken of was the old friend his father had had a falling out with, Edwin if he could recall the name. Ever since the argument between his father and Edwin had occurred, his father had not once agreed to see Edwin all the way up till his father's death.

Of course, he had never had much of a good impression of Edwin as a result, but when he had healed Edwin previously, and had seen the sincerity in the man's eyes, he could tell that he was a changed person.

This was the man his father had once recounted to him as a loyal friend and subordinate during the off times his father went drinking and reminisced of the past.

They weren't blood brothers, but they had been brothers all the same.

He had always noted the sadness in his father's eyes when he vaguely spoke of the matter, but he never commented on it to prevent his father from drowning himself with alcohol.

As such, now that a change had occurred in Edwin, how could he possibly allow an assassin to target him?

"What reason do you have for pursing this target?" He stared at her unblinkingly.

"Reason?" Akame echoed before shaking her head. "He has killed many in the name of the Emperor. He's someone who can't be left alone."

His expression didn't change in the least after hearing Akame's words. In which case, Akame thought it best to elaborate further about the corruption of the Empire and what Edwin had done on the orders of Honest the minister, but even still, unnerved as he was with the information, he remained steadfast.

"Murder isn't always the answer," he said, closing his eyes before opening them again. "Don't tell me you would even condemn this child Emperor too?"

Silence was his response.

It was enough of a confirmation.

"I can't agree with this," he abruptly sat up, eyes narrowed, ignoring the guilt and shame that flashed across Akame's eyes to convey a point. "You're fighting for the wrong reasons."

"Because no one else will," she cut in curtly, her white-knuckled grip around the pommel of her sword signalling to him how strongly she felt on the matter.

He didn't care.

The ends don't justify the means.

"Although its true that there are some people we have no choice but to kill, but the thing is, _people can change,_ " he said.

The way she looked at him after he spoke was with a glare and spurn that was piercing in the calm of the night.

He disregarded it, stepping closer to her despite the way she eyed him as if ready to lash out. Yet she stiffened at his next words, the meaning behind them like a bolt of lighting striking through her that caused her to slacken and tremble.

"Weren't you the same?"

The words hung in the air, the information he had gleamed about Akame from the aspect of his Tracing magecraft apparent in his mind. The history of a sword's wielder made known to him at a glance.

A child sold off by her parents and forced into harsh training.

A weapon for the Empire which eventually learned to turn around and bare its fangs.

" _Shut up_ ," her voice was low, losing the detached monotone of its earlier pitch.

He didn't listen, instead meeting her cold gaze with his own.

She stared at him, and he at her.

A second passed, then another.

"You aren't a bad person," he whispered. "Your beliefs are just misplaced."

She bristled. "And what would you know?" She gritted out through her teeth.

"Enough to know that a part of you agrees with me," the admission stunned Akame. "Why else would you not have attempted to cut me down already despite it being clear that I'm getting in your way?"

He moved away from Akame and towards the window she had come from, staring out towards the moon that never changed regardless of the world. His appearance denoting a wisdom that didn't correspond to his age, fully capturing Akame's attention.

Perhaps it was a type of charisma.

A disposition not seen before in a world of death and deceit.

That of a Hero.

"I know that you won't fully believe me and that we are at odds with each other in regards to your mission, but why don't you stay in this little border town and see for yourself that others can change?" He turned around to stare at her. "I can also guarantee that I won't interfere should you still deem Edwin someone that has to be killed. What do you say? How about it?"

Akame hesitated, but ultimately came to a decision.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to all, trouble was brewing within the nations of Wakoku bordering the town.

The nations of Hageshi and Heiwa


	4. Chapter 4

Morning came sooner than he anticipated, and by then he was already within the room his father had once used as the study, a hand pinched over the bridge of his nose as he contemplated.

The issue about last night wasn't solely in the fact that the Assassin, Akame, had invaded his dwelling in search of her target, but the ramifications of what she had conveyed to him as well.

"The residents at the far edge of the town have expressed their need of support," Elaine read to him from the side, brushing back her long bangs behind her ears.

She had always been meticulous and upright due to her upbringing of hording in the impulsiveness of her brothers, and it reflected in her diligence to keep things orderly. She came, just as she always had to his home at the break of dawn ready to assist him, and in this case, it was to inform him of the growing problem that had to be dealt with.

"Money is scarce, and the harvest this year wasn't as adequate as predicted," Elaine continued, reading off from a sheet of dried papyrus before eying him discreetly. "If we don't solve the food problem soon, people will starve when the Winter comes."

He sighed.

This was his exact issue. Initially, he had planned to send townsfolk to the Capital of the Empire to work and secure rations, but with how corrupt Akame vividly described it to be, he was more than hesitant to send good people out for an unfavourable outcome.

Elaine took note of his sigh and couldn't help feeling guilty for pressing him on a decision mere weeks after his father died and a day after his inauguration ceremony. To be frank, she didn't want to as she had grown up alongside him and in turn knew him the best. The struggles of others, were his struggles too, but it was also true that he couldn't remain ignorant either.

The two fell into a calm silence, the only sound in the room coming from Artus and Anna giggling and shouting as they play-fought with the wooden swords given as presents.

They stood in stark contrast to him and Elaine who were grimacing over an oaken desk, Elaine standing respectfully on the side, head lowered in thought before Anna unexpectedly began tugging on her pant leg.

"Play?" Anna asked, pointing at herself and Artus who had both wooden swords in his hands while laughing and grinning dumbly.

Elaine's expression stiffened before she looked at him in distress. If there was one thing that was true about her, it was that she was exceedingly inexperienced with dealing with toddlers. It was just something in her straightforward personality that made it difficult for her to associate with them. Unfortunately, children had a strange attraction towards her.

"I Choose You!" Artus said, pointing a wooden sword at Elaine whose neutral expression broke into one of pleading as she stared at him.

He ignored her, pretending he couldn't see the despair that flashed in her eyes as Anna climbed onto her shoulders and Artus began striking weakly at her legs. It wasn't as if he was heartless, but because he knew that if Elaine wasn't there, it was he who would be in her position.

Currently, he had too much to do already.

Whispering a silent apology, Elaine looked at him bitterly as Anna and Artus insisted she go play in the yard with them, prompting Elaine to leave.

He could almost feel her anguish when he heard Anna asking Elaine a question.

"Town after?"

His mouth slowly curved upward before pausing as he considered the matter of provisions once again while left alone in his father's study.

However, he wasn't actually alone.

After Elaine and the other two left, a figure dropped down gracefully from the ceiling at the corner of the room. Wearing a brown cloak that she refused to remove, Akame silently stared at him.

She had decided to take him up on his offer in the previous night for two reasons. One because she wanted to observe him and his Teigu, and the other because it was likely that her target would eventually return if she waited long enough.

"You know," he called. "You don't have to keep hiding. People here don't know anything about the Capital."

Akame stared at him before shaking her head and pulling the hood of her cloak down further. The first lesson all Assassins learned was that there was never such a phrase as being too cautious. Although the Border Town was in a remote area of the Empire, so long as the chance existed of her being identified, she'd rather play things safe.

"No need," she said coldly. "I won't be showing my face to you again."

He could tell that she didn't mean that she would be leaving, but that she would be secretly tailing him instead. Besides, it wasn't in the nature of an Assassin to be out in the open. In fact, her wearing her cloak would probably look even more inconspicuous in a small town where everyone seemed to know each other.

In that case, why would she even bother revealing herself to him rather than remain hidden?

The answer came blatantly when she stuffed the food, he had prepared prior for an early lunch, into a storage bag she was carrying on her person without even pausing.

His lip twitched, her behaviour somehow reminding him of a glutton he once knew, but all the same. He watched quietly as she took the food and returned to where she had been hiding, leaving the silence as his only companion.

It didn't bother him much.

Instead, he got up and decided that it was best to get through with the day's activities while contemplating the impending food shortage. Slipping by past Elaine and his siblings, he made his way towards a certain part of the town, a lithe shadow trailing behind him while staring in wonder at the food in her hands.

Small as the town was with a population barely reaching a hundred, the distance between his home and his destination was relatively short. It was a simple cottage made of thatch held together by gathered resin and bound thread overtop a wooden foundation. The musk of its scent was particularly strong, but it was a smell attributed with the locals as medicinal due to the importance they placed on the simple building.

It was his accommodation as the town's only healer which in comparison to other such facilities elsewhere appeared lacking. To him however, it was fine so long as it could serve its purpose.

In that regard, there was already someone waiting for him by the front door. A bearded man wearing a bandana over his tussled hair and a fur tunic over his body and bound leather pants.

"My child," the bearded man spoke, cradling his son in his arms in concern. "I don't know what's wrong with him."

He nodded silently before passing the man to open the front door and beckoning them inside.

Akame who was trailing behind stared at his actions in peculiarity before slipping in through an open window and observing. She had already heard that Shirou was known as a local healer, but from the bareness of the cottage's interior, she couldn't see anything close to resembling medicinal tools or salves. Therefore, she couldn't determine what he was intending on doing.

Of course, she theorized that his 'healing' had something to do with his Teigu, but such notions left her mind after assuming that Shirou possessed a combat orientated Imperial Arm.

Remaining motionless, her eyes were keen on not missing a single detail as Shirou instructed the man to lay his son over a padded quilt. The result of her scrutiny would shock her more than she'd like to admit.

Moments after the man had placed his son down, Shirou bent over the boy and placed a hand over the boy's chest.

She blinked, then blinked again.

Her mouth hanging open as the boy's sickly complexions visibly faded.

Impossible.

She couldn't describe what she was seeing, nor explain her astonishment. She didn't see him use a Teigu. And this fact alone astounded her.

Due to Shirou's discreet action of Tracing the tip of healing type mystic code within his palm to make contact with the child, to Akame and the father, it really did look as if all it had taken was a touch to cure sickness.

The gratitude and veneration in the father's expression were impossible to hide as the father took his son into his arms and bowed his head low.

"Long live the town head," the father said sincerely. "If anyone makes trouble for you, my friends and brothers in arms will never let them go!"

Shirou shook his head at the mans earnest declaration before standing up and grabbing a bundle of preserved food from another room in the cottage and offering it to the father.

"Rather than place your efforts in repaying me, take this food and care for your son," he placed the sack of food in the father's free arm. "He still needs to recover his strength, and the winter this year may hit the town harder than it did before."

The father's lips quivered as he stared at the food in his hands and then to Shirou, the sheer emotion kept bottled behind his stern face palpable.

The father didn't say another word, hugging his son closely before leaving.

It was only Akame who saw the expression of the father's face as he departed, suddenly recognizing it from a wanted poster she had seen circulating within the Empire's merchant caravans.

Raiga, the leader of the Mounted Bandits. A group spanning several hundred men strong.

She froze, realizing for the first time, that there was something about the Border Town that was different from what it seemed.

Brows furrowing, she put aside her observations to continue her monitoring, trying to comprehend what Shirou had done. Had he simply utilized a medicinal practice outside of her means? Or did he actually possess a healing power bordering on a miracle? In any case, when she considered his value in the eyes of the Revolutionary Army, she was startled to realize that they would go crazy over him.

Each day, the number of injured accumulated in the Revolutionary Army grew ceaselessly. If Shirou could heal them all with a single touch, then there was no telling of the lengths the Revolutionary Army would go to secure Shirou's cooperation. More so, the repercussions should the Empire recruit him instead.

For once on her mission, she was conflicted about whether she should report her findings or not, and it wasn't because of her ties to the Revolutionary Army. It was because of Shirou.

To say that she wasn't moved by how selfless Shirou was would be a lie. Seeing him stress over finding a way to feed everyone yet at the same time giving away his own rations, it was enough to see his character.

A character different from anyone she had ever seen before in a position of power.

Her lips pursed, but her professionalism forced her to remain where she was.

Shirou on the other hand continued to act as if Akame wasn't around despite sensing her due to the distinct magical scent he could detect exuding from her Tiegu, Murasame.

Making sure that no other patients were coming to ask for treatments, he moved to an isolated room in the cottage.

In the time he had been treating Raiga's son, he had come up with a potential method to solve the food crisis the Border Town was bound to experience.

He pulled out a box in the corner of the room and opened it to reveal the remains of some type of large animal. However, it was far from just an average animal.

It was the remains of a Danger Beast.

Danger Beasts were a class of creature in the world that possessed astounding capabilities of destruction and special abilities that made them difficult to handle. What the inhabitants of the world didn't know and that only he could see though, was that their abilities and powers didn't come naturally.

It was a by-product of the magic all Danger Beasts subconsciously absorbed, and a concept that generally alluded most common people who didn't believe in magic. He however, was different.

From the moment he had first used his magic in the new world, the differences were apparent to him. For one, the ambience of the magic in the air was flat, almost containing nothing for his or anyone else's use. In that regard, Danger Beasts absorbing it all explained everything. Even the new world's designation of the Danger Beasts bore a direct correlation to the input of magical energy consumed. In which case, Super Class Danger Beasts were the most efficient.

Why did this matter to him though? Well, it was obvious as he began drawing from the magical energy stored within the remains of the Danger Beast to recover the magical reserves he had used in the previous night and while healing the child.

He didn't put much attention in the fact that someone else was staring at him.

Even if Akame was watching, it wasn't as if she could understand what he was doing anyway.

As he partially refilled his reserves to save what was left of the magical power in the Danger Beast remains, he took a breath and resolved himself.

It was time to go hunting.

The one thing different about Danger Beasts was the amount of nourishment they gave to those that ate them due to their accumulated magical energy. For example, a common man may be able to last a full week on just a portion of a Danger Beast's meat.

In his case, it would solve the Border Town's current food shortage while at the same time, increasing the amount of Danger Beast remains he could draw magic from. The current sets his father had acquired numerous years ago were already waning in magical properties. They wouldn't be able to supply him with magic much longer, and by then he would have to consider forging his own swords unless he obtained more.

As such, hunting for Danger Beasts had always occupied his mind. It was just that he had never acted on it due to how protective his father was and a promise he had made.

Now however, it was different.

If he didn't go hunt, then the people he knew would eventual go hungry, and that was unacceptable.

The only thing he had left to do as he put away the remains of the Danger Beast, was to hope that Artus and Anna could distract Elaine long enough for her not to realize that he had left the town to hunt Danger Beasts in the woods: A goal he had accidently made known to Elaine in their childhood, making it certain that it may be the first thing she would think of to explain his absence.

His father was gone after all, and there was no longer anyone to stop him.

He only feared that she would call her brothers to form a party and help search for him in the woods regardless of the danger.

Something he would rather not have her do.

* * *

Sneaking past Elaine was easier than he had anticipated with Artus and Anna distracting her, making it effortless for him to leave the Border Town's vicinity and deep into the forests surrounding it.

He paused after making enough headway through the underbrush and crouched down to stare at the trail he had found.

Tracking Danger Beasts was different from tracking regular animals. For example, most people would consider tracking Danger Beasts as difficult whereas tracking regular animals was easy.

He was an exception.

His nose subtly twitched alerting him of the general direction of a magic signature.

It was a unique ability of his that stemmed from his capability of detecting magic through scent. And in a world where the only source of acute congregations of magic were Danger Beasts, he was a natural radar.

He stood up, looking in the direction of where the scent was originating from and followed relentlessly like a blood-hound on a wind trail.

His steps were without pause and the closer he got to his target, the more certain he was of the Danger Beast's location.

By now, he had proceeded farther away from the Border Town then he had ever intended on venturing, but he couldn't give up now with the target being so close. It smelled of dirt and gravel with something mixed in resembling gooseberry.

Close was an understatement, the Danger Beast shouldn't have been more than sixty meters away from his current location, but an event forced him to shift his priorities.

His current location was over an elevated foothill overlooking a steep cliff that led to a deep valley where the scent of blood was permeating. Near the valley, he could see two groups of people, one surrounding the other in a tight encirclement.

Those forming the encirclement were dressed in thick padded armour with metal straps to protect their chest, arms, and legs. In their hands were swords and spears pointed threateningly at the other group.

In comparison, those caught within the encirclement were far from equipped for battle. They wore thin layers of brown fur that only covered certain private areas of their body and nothing else.

What infuriated him however, was the fact that those encircled were primarily comprised of women and children. The few men he could see were glaring while they kept the women and children behind them.

He didn't know anything about the two groups, making him a total stranger to what was going on, but Akame hiding in the trees was able to recognize their distinct characteristics immediately.

They were people of Wakoku.

Bitter memories flashed through her mind, but for the most part she could infer what was going on. The Nations of Wakoku were currently warring with each other to unify the lands, and it wasn't uncommon to see rival nations killing entire populations off.

Of course, she wasn't sure of the specifics of the groups in front of her, but she understood what was about to happen and it made her blood run cold.

She had seen such situations before, the ruthlessness of humans.

Subconsciously, she turned to stare at Shirou, to see what someone like him who believed in the good of others would do. And it stunned her.

" _Trace, on_."

Something in the air seemed to change, a burst of wind traveling outwards in miniature zephyrs that blew across her face.

A low whistle, the sound of Murasame thrumming from within its sheath.

And then a blue streak ripped across the sky like a show of divine might.

Heaven's punishment to the blasphemers.

Retribution.

The silver thread of the black bow in Shirou's hands reverberated once, then twice, then thrice, continuing on in a cacophony of plucked strings, unable to understand the impact it was having on Akame.

His eyes were narrowed, trained.

It didn't matter if he didn't know who was right or who was wrong with the groups ahead. All that mattered was that he couldn't agree with killing those who couldn't even fight back. Not when the children cried and the mothers wept.

Right or wrong, he had made his decision.

He pelted the encirclement with an unending rain of twisted steel. The altered sword arrows gouging the earth with melon sized craters and splattered innards that disintegrated from the heat of impact.

The intervention was both sudden and instantaneous, dozens of men in armour reduced to nothing as the encircled group looked on in a daze. By then, everything was already over.

He lowered his bow as he took a breath, moving forward in the next instant to confront those ahead of him in a burst of reinforced speed.

Naturally, his appearance allowed the smarter people of the encircled group to comprehend what had happened when he stood a short distance in front of them.

"Who are you?" He asked calmly, bow at his side.

Even if he saved these people, he had enough experience to understand that sometimes appearances could be deceiving. The group in front of him was mainly composed of women and children, but their characters weren't guaranteed.

The men in the group were glaring at him wearily, but they moved aside when a young woman wearing feathered ankle bands and leather grips approached. Her skin was tan, and because her garments only consisted of brown fur covering her chest and hips, he could see how physically fit she was.

Over the young woman's shoulder was an unconscious middle-aged man who seemed to have suffered from an extensive injury.

"We are people of the Nation of Heiwa of Wakoku," she said, the tone of her voice soft and subdued. "Those bastards from Hageshi pillaged our homes and pursued us to completely eradicate our people. We've had to run all the way here near the very border of the Empire."

Saying that, the woman fell silent, watching him cautiously as he nodded.

It seemed that he had made the right choice. The people in front of him didn't appear to be bad with the sole fact that he could see that they had not abandoned their injured even in the midst of a pursuit.

The only factor that was confusing him at the moment was expressions that they were giving him for saving them.

"Why, why did you help us?" The woman eventually asked in the stretching quiet.

He stared at them as if they were dumb; the thinking of the inhabitant of the new world, starkly different when compared to his own. They were all cautious by nature, calculative and weary of inadvertently falling into any hidden ploys and traps, unable to see that within people wasn't just cruelty, but kindness as well.

To understand the plight of others and sympathize without ulterior motives. To help without regard to benefit.

A trait that the people of Heiwa needed to see to understand his actions. But was it truly their fault?

People are shaped by the places they live in. It's how they learn to adapt and cope, and unfortunately, the world beyond the reaches of the Border Town appeared harsher than he expected.

But did that mean that he had to adapt to such a world?

Obviously not. Just because he saved them did not mean that he had done so for any other reason.

"Is it wrong to help others?" He said without hesitation, stunning the crowd as they could detect no ill intentions from him. "Go south of here and follow a worn-out trail. You'll come across a Border Town and although its currently suffering from food shortage, the people there will be sure to help anyway."

The woman stared at him in wonder.

Because something became increasingly clear as time passed on by the minutes.

That he didn't ask for anything in return for saving them.

The young woman's cold expression finally broke in the face of his compassion, her brows knitting together as if she didn't know what to make of him.

"You would shelter us? The people of Hageshi will not give up so easily and _will_ come to attack," the young woman explained peculiarly.

He shrugged, looking at them with a kindness that was slowly melting away their suspicions.

"Then the people of Hageshi will have to realize that they'd no longer be fighting within the borders of Wakoku," he said.

There was a layer of mystery surrounding him at that moment that made it so the young woman felt a measure of assurance in his words, finally convincing herself on a decision.

"You are different," she said, engraving his appearance in her mind. "The people of Heiwa will not forget this."

Saying that, the young women led everyone in her group to follow the instruction he had given her to reach the Broder Town, leaving him behind.

When they were all gone, it was only then that he put on a long face realizing that by helping the people of Heiwa he had incurred the possibility of an attack on the Border Town. Then, should he have had just stood by and watched a massacre? It was impossible for someone like him to do such a thing.

Therefore, he didn't regret his actions. The only thing that mattered now, was moving forward to a conclusion he could accept.

When the people of Hageshi attacked, then there was a definite problem he would first have to address.

The Border Town had nothing close to a defensive line. The enemy could go unimpeded before reaching the area where the townspeople lived and start a massacre. He had no qualms in confrontation, but the issue was that it was impossible for him to defend the entire town all at once.

He needed to make something to funnel all the enemies in one location. Some type of defensive wall with only a single opening to allow exit and entry. However, the Border Town didn't have the time or the required labour to construct such a wall.

Therefore, he'd just have to improvise.

A rudimentary plan began forming in his mind as he began moving, stopping just shy of the Border Town. It was a plan that only someone like him could ever come up with, but perhaps it may just work.

He closed his eyes, extending an arm over his head as a turbulent wave of magical energy coalesced around him and a pressure descended upon the area that couldn't be described.

A trail of words that reflected the very crux of his inner world made real.

_"_ _**I am the bone of my sword** _ _."_

Power thrummed from within him, ebbing unceasingly like the water on an ocean shore, and from his hands, looming shadows began to grow and blot out the sun.

Colossal monuments, pillars of stainless-steel emerged and hovered within the sky one by one, forming a circle that covered the Border Town's entire perimeter.

Massive constructs that no one could not recognize.

Swords.

Massive pillar-like swords descended, piercing through the ground and sending violent tremors into the earth.

A wall of not stone or wood.

But of Steel.

He was panting hard from the exertion, having used all of the magical reserves he had at his disposal and more, greatly fatiguing him as he staggered. What he needed now more than anything else was to return to the healing cottage and take what magical energy he had left from the remains of the Danger Beasts to recover.

In fact, that was all he was thinking about, and not about how Akame was currently feeling having watched him the entire day.

She shivered, Murasame trembling in agitation as she stared at the massive swords now surrounding the Border Town. What had been just a simple town at one point, had instantly become a fortress that even she was having second thoughts of the army's artillery having any effect.

More than that, was what she felt about Shirou himself.

_His Teigu, its monstrous._

Her lips thinned into a line as she dropped from the trees and directly into Shirou's line of sight.

"I thought you said you weren't going to show your face anymore," he said wryly upon seeing her.

"And I didn't expect you to be such a fool," she replied back frowning, hands balling into fists.

Even now, the image of him saving the people of Heiwa surfaced in her mind. He had saved them utterly, giving them a place to stay without even flinching.

And for what reason did he give?

_That it's never wrong to help another._

His family and the people of the Border Town aside, he had no obligation to help anyone else, yet he did so without hesitation.

Unknowingly, the way she had viewed him prior began changing, the preconceptions and observations she had made of him going up in smoke. What kind of integrity, no; better yet, what kind of mentality did one have to possess to be so different from normal?

The people she knew, the evils she had seen, none of her experiences could ever prepare her to meet such an anomaly.

He smiled weakly, not saying anything else because he had already been called a 'fool' far too many times to count.

Presently, his exhausted state was evident for Akame to see.

"What's to stop me from incapacitating you right now, and just completing my assignment?" She said.

Part of the reason she had agreed to Shirou's proposition of temporarily staying in the Border Town was because she saw that he possessed the power to stop her. The situation now was entirely different. It was she who had the upper hand.

"Nothing," he responded honestly. "So why aren't you doing it?"

"…"

She fell silent, unable to admit that a part of her had been moved at his sheer tenacity and belief.

"You are a fool," she said again, uncharacteristically draping his arm over her shoulder to support him.

She didn't even know what she was doing anymore. She was tasked with killing Edwin for the numerous deaths he was responsible for against the Revolutionary Army, and now here she was aiding the man who was preventing her from doing so.

Silently, the two trudged on, Shirou doing his best to stagger on, and she helping him limp back to the Border Town.

It was hard for her to understand how things led up to this point let alone explain it. Even the emotions welling up from within her made it difficult for her to think.

Because deep within her, she had understood something as she stared at the naivety and optimism of those bronze coloured orbs regarding her, a murderer, without any weariness.

A thought that would never again leave her mind the longer she stayed near him.

That perhaps.

Just maybe.

The world needed someone like him.

An ember whose flame would only continue to grow brighter, eventually becoming an unstoppable fire.

A fire of change.


	5. Chapter 5

By the time Akame deposited Shirou within the wooden cottage he used as a proxy hospital, Shirou no longer had the means to interact with the soft-spoken assassin. She left as soon as they arrived. She didn't even stick around to observe him from the shadows of the room and simply left him alone without any regard for what he would do: This was despite the curiosity she had at his insistence of returning to the healing cottage rather than a warm bed which he could use to alleviate his exhaustion. Then again, she hadn't exactly been the same since the events of the forest.

In the midst of the journey back, Akame had been keeping silent. It wasn't something that was new when it concerned her quiet demeanor, but the meaning changed when her brows constantly furrowed.

She was clearly thinking about other important matters and couldn't come to a decision. Perhaps because he was influencing her somehow with his presence, she didn't hesitate to leave and acquire sometime to herself. Regardless, a part of him was already certain that she would be back by morning. If not in front of him, then somewhere she believed that he couldn't see.

Until then, he would utilize his time without constant surveillance.

Legs trembling, he gathered the strength to hoist himself off the floor where Akame had unceremoniously dropped him and staggered on his feet.

His vision was swimming, the furniture around him appearing to wobble before he shook his head and focused his vision.

The thing about magical exhaustion was that it had nothing to do with one's physical state, but more on their mentality. The concept itself is relatable to sleep deprivation where all movement becomes lethargic and the complexion of one's face begins to pale.

In Shirou's case, he was just tired as he didn't tap in too much of his personal reserves of magical energy stored within his twenty-seven magic circuits; twenty-seven nodes of the spirit that aligned with the body with the function of converting ambient mana in the air into usable energy for a magi's magecraft. However, with the lack of mana in the air due to the Danger Beasts, the most his Magic Circuits could accomplish was extract and store the magical energy rather than passively generate their own.

This was the true purpose of his insistence to return to the present cottage.

Staggering on his feet, he eventually made his way into the cottage's storage room by using the walls and furniture for support. Thereafter, he pulled out the same source of Danger Beasts remains he had been conserving for the past few years.

It was a pity that it was no longer possible to rely on them in the future.

Hands touching the cleaned bones, he fully extracted the magical energy found from within.

A storm-like gale of blue mana circulated around him before funneling into his body, the exhaustion clouding his mind gradually clearing to a comfortable state.

He released a breath, opening and clenching his hands as the mana diffused through his pours and into his magic circuits.

A feeling of fulfillment that he had not felt in numerous years caused his lips to curve upwards.

It had been too long.

In his attempts to preserve the magical energy stored within the remains of the Danger Beast he had on hand, he'd never allowed himself to charge up to full capacity. Not only did he feel stronger, but he felt far more enlivened than he ever had before, like a desert-stranded wanderer obtaining an oasis.

The only negative aspect was the result of his extraction.

The left-over bones of the Danger Beast cracked before fading into dust; the magical components depleted, the age of the bones caught up with them and reduced them to ash.

Shirou would no longer have a means to replenish the magical energy he could use henceforth until he could hunt more Danger Beasts.

Mood falling with the realization, he scratched his head in thought until he caught sight of the moonlight pooling in through a window. In his fatigued state, it had taken both him and Akame a substantial amount of time to trek back to the Border Town. In which case, the evening had long since arrived, and along with it, the general darkness of the forest.

There were no street lights in the world he was reborn in, and most certainly not in a border town at the edge of the Empire. Thus, the soft hue of orange flame flickering in the distance was further emphasized.

The people from Wakoku.

As he had sent them out in the direction of the Border Town earlier, it was certain that they had arrived much earlier than he had. With the town fully occupied as it was, the people of Heiwa must have set up camp nearby.

Shirou closed his eyes and peered into himself. The amount of magical energy at his disposal was substantial and he wouldn't have to use very much of it to heal several of the injured from Heiwa. Besides, it was a sign of good faith. If he had already taken the action to meddle and rescue them, he might as well help them thoroughly.

Following the glow of the flame outside, he stepped out of the healing cottage and was met with the soft blowing of a cold breeze and an exasperated face.

Shirou stiffened visibly, as if a deer caught in the headlights. "E-Elaine, what a surprise to see you here?"

Elaine rose a brow.

She had been leaning with her back against the wall of the cottage evidently waiting for him to come out. In which case, had she been there to see Akame carrying him in?

The question left Shirou in a cold sweat as he knew Elaine's personality. She was dutiful and upright, but sometimes she really was too persistent. Worse, with the amount of time they spent growing up around each other, she'd learned to detect it when he was lying or shying away from a topic.

This was one of those occasions.

She was staring at him without blinking, the light reflecting from her glasses seeming to see directly through him.

"Is it _really_ a surprise?" She asked sceptically. "It's a bit unbelievable isn't it?"

Shirou didn't answer. It was a losing battle, yet still he found it within him to smile wryly at her and joke. "Almost as unbelievable as Anna and Artus leaving you alone. You ditched them on your brothers, didn't you?"

Elaine didn't answer, but the way she turned her head to the side and coughed in her hands was enough of a response. It also served to dissolve the 'cool' disposition she was attempting to emulate from her mother.

Her arms were crossed beneath her bosom, and the tinges of her cheeks were flushed red, but she composed herself quickly.

"Enough," she forced the words out in her embarrassment. "This isn't about me, but you. I'm not a fool Shirou. You went out of the town."

Shirou turned to look at Elaine and noticed the oddly serious expression on her face, her lips pursed and her forehead creased.

Don't get him wrong, Elaine was generally always serious, a type of 'cold beauty' like her mother, but today was different.

She moved to stand right across from him and placed her hands on her hips, pressing him for a response as her expression became neutral.

"Was it that obvious?" He decided to admit to his fault.

Elaine simply nodded. "It's not every day that people of Wakoku enter the borders of the Empire and into our town. More so when they began telling stories about a red-haired warrior killing off their rival pursuers. Anything to say about this matter?"

Shirou didn't respond. There was no way he could lie; therefore, the best method was to just remain silent.

Elaine payed him no mind before her eyes narrowed at the tall structures in the distance, entirely surrounding the border town. From afar, they appeared to be walls of some sort, but Elaine still recalled the peculiarity of their shape. They were almost entirely sword-like.

She glanced back at Shirou.

"How about those walls? Do you know anything about them? Some of the townsfolk and people from Heiwa are beginning to worship them as the creation of a God." Elaine furrowed her brows in thought. "You can't blame them though. Raiga sent out scouts to verify the composition of the walls to find a shocking discovery. Steel Shirou."

"Steel?" Shirou bowed his head, unable to meet Elaine's scrutiny.

"Yes Steel. The nearly fifteen-meter walls surrounding the Border Town are made out of refined steel." Elaine wiped the dust off from her glasses before putting them back on. "It's the kind of steel hardened for use in blades but made in such a scale that they couldn't have had been created by human hands. It's a real mystery."

"Oh, is that so," Shirou made to avoid the topic, and fortunately, Elaine relented. However, with the way Shirou was directing his gaze towards his feet, he missed the concern that flashed across Elaine's eyes.

Although she didn't say it, having seen Shirou's exhausted state as Akame carried him into the healing cottage, Elaine was highly suspicious as it was.

Something was going on that the Young Master was getting dragged into and she was completely unaware of it. It left her unsettled. More than that, the reason Shirou's father prevented Shirou from hunting Danger Beasts outside of the Border Town wasn't just because of the danger. It was because Shirou's father didn't want him to get dragged into the affairs of the Empire or its bordering nations. Now however, Elaine feared that it was already too late. The simple life-style that she and the others in the village enjoyed was bound to come to an end, but so what?

"I don't know what kind of trouble you got yourself involved in Shirou, but will you listen to a piece of advice from a friend and advisor?" The tone of Elaine's voice was oddly insistent, as if she wouldn't take no for an answer and it reflected in the way she blocked his path forward.

Shirou had no idea what Elaine was going to say, but it was clear that he didn't have much of a choice but to listen. Giving his consent, he inclined his head and gestured for Elaine to elaborate.

Elaine pushed up her glasses in relief before stepping forward and placing her hands on Shirou's shoulders. They were so close that he could smell the scent of raspberries from her breath and fresh mint from her hair.

"We're friends, aren't we?" She asked softly, smiling fondly while staring up at him with her clear eyes. "Therefore, even if you hold the responsibility of the town, please remember to rely on me and on the others. Don't just handle things on your own."

Elaine let go of Shirou, retreating back step by step until she was a meter in front of him before bowing politely.

Shirou opened his mouth to speak, but Elaine was already far ahead of him.

"You have somewhere you need to be, don't you?" She smiled wryly. "I won't take up anymore of your time, but please remember my words."

After all, not everyone in the Border Town was as they appeared to be.

It was a place of retired monsters and those seeking retribution, a shelter for a new start at life.

A home for the weary.

No one was simple.

Thus, was the Border Town at the edge of the Empire.

A place of transition and new beginnings.

* * *

The people of Heiwa had set up camp a short distance away from the perimeter of the town.

When they had first arrived, they had been apprehensive. Many of them were injured and the largest majority of the group consisted of women and children who lacked proper combat experience.

Despite Shirou's words to them, they had no way of verifying their authenticity until they actually arrived at the Border Town. To their surprise, other than staring for a moment or two, most of the townsfolk smiled knowingly before gesturing for a place for them to stay.

Selka, the current daughter of the Chief of Heiwa was still dumbfounded from the current sequence of events. There were no conspiracies, black-hearted profiting, or any ill will to be scene from anyone in the Border Town. Instead, they were welcomed with open arms as if their arrival was a common occurrence.

Selka, for all her intelligence still couldn't understand it. In the midst of Wakoku's internal wars, she had been taught to be weary of all outsiders. They were liars, crooks, and criminals hiding behind the guise of smiling faces.

And yet, what the hell was this place?

Selka's eyes widened in disbelief when she had first laid witness to the location that the townsfolk allowed them to set up camp.

It was a lush creek filled with growing vegetation perfectly suitable for the production of huts and outdoor necessities that the Heiwa were proficient in utilizing. The Heiwa were a neutral Nation of Wakoku that escaped the brunt of the Civil War due to their simpler life-style. They hunted for a living, using their superior physical constitutions to survive in the dense jungles away from all the fighting. Their finesse and physical capabilities reflected in the sleekness of their figures and the toned definition of their muscles.

All were generally of tan-skin and no one wore too much clothing as it hindered their movements deep in the underbrush.

They mystery that clouded Selka's mind however was the fact that the townsfolk of the Border Town seemed to identify them as Heiwa upon sight. How else would they have had been able to provide them such an ideal camp ground?

It didn't make any sense.

The Heiwa were secretive to begin with, and unless one was a local of Wakoku, no one in the Empire should have had heard of them.

Selka turned back to stare at the townsman that had led her group to their current location and grew stunned when she realized that the mam was gone.

Impossible.

She bit down on her lips.

The Heiwa had a unique system of Hunter and Caretaker in their society. Most women of Heiwa opted to be Caretakers, but Selka was different. She had always wanted to be a Hunter to provide for her village. As such she had trained since young under the guidance of her father and was fully confident in her abilities.

With the superior constitution of the people of Heiwa, Selka was unable to accept that a non-Heiwa resident had been able to escape her notice in the short time-frame she had been distracted.

Only one thought came to mind.

An Expert.

Speaking of experts, she couldn't help but recall the very youth who had saved them. More so because the red-haired youth appeared to be of similar age and was far more capable than her. It was vexing, but more than that, it was somewhat frightening.

What if…What if _all_ of the people in the Border Town were of similar capability?

Selka shuddered just thinking about it, yet she couldn't allow the thought to distract her.

Her father who she was supporting from her shoulders needed rest.

It was with such thoughts that regardless of the numerous questions she had, she ordered the people of Heiwa to quickly build camp.

Despite most of the group consisting of women and children, they were by no means weak when compared to the average woman.

"Hey Selka, do you think we can use this for anything?"

The owner of the voice was a middle-aged woman carrying a tree she had cut down over her shoulders. Like many women of Heiwa, the woman was lithe, her naval region exposing flat-toned muscles that were just visible enough to see.

Selka only smiled in response. Most of the construction for the camp was near completed and the children were even helping by moving around boulders twice their size to aid the men who were busy masoning with their bare hands to build tools.

"Just put the tree with the rest. We'll use the wood later when the men are done chopping through the stones we're using for the tribal house," Selka gave a nod. "All of us can stay in there for the night and we'll work on the other shelters next morning."

"Understood," the middle-aged woman gave her acknowledgment before tossing the chopped tree onto a pile of others that resembled a stack of firewood.

Meanwhile, the tension Selka had been feeling from the pursuit of the people of Hageshi finally disappeared completely.

The words Shirou had said really were true.

Selka sat down next to where her father was resting in the newly constructed tribal building, wet a towel, and began cleaning off the grime that had accumulated over her father's body during the course of the journey. She herself was far from clean with smudges of dirt and mud on her skin, yet the first concept taught to all people of Heiwa was to be filial.

In that regard, the care Selka showed towards her father who became both a Hunter and a Caretaker for her in the absence of her mother, was immeasurable. In fact, if her father had truly died then she probably wouldn't have been able to take it. Far from being rational, she would have had abandoned her duties as the daughter of the Chief and swear vengeance until her death.

Yet in her despair, she and many had been saved.

This was a debt the Heiwa would not forget. One that Selka took to heart.

Continuing to wipe the dirt and blood she could see on her father's skin, she lost track of time.

Glancing up from where she had been meticulously cleaning, she smiled warmly.

The people of Heiwa that her father had gathered and that she had led to safety were sprawled out over the floor of the Tribal building. Many were hugging onto each other and openly snoring while others rolled overtop. It was a tangle of arms and legs and bodies, but to Selka, it gave her a feeling of home and the bond shared between the Heiwa.

This was what she wanted to protect.

She looked down over her lap and noticed that many of the children who'd lost their parents as a result of the attack from Hageshi were snuggling beside her for comfort.

She tenderly began patting their heads in regret as rage filled her heart.

It wasn't fair. Even now just thinking about what those of Hageshi had done left her with an unbridled rage.

The children around her were among many that she personally tutored as the representative of her father during his personal hunting trips.

The heavy realization that the children were now orphaned caused her grit her teeth as her eyes moistened.

Many of those who died could be considered her aunts and uncles. Those who took care of her and tolerated her antics as a child without a mother.

Dead.

All of them.

Selka suppressed the tears she felt were about to fall by force of will.

_Hunters never cry. They take their enemies and make them suffer ten-fold- Nay, a Hundred-Fold!_

In the midst of Selka's fury, a voice entered her ears from the direction of the fire left burning outside the hastily built tribal building.

"That's a lot of malice to be releasing around children, isn't it?" The voice asked. "Look at them, they won't be able to sleep like this. Worse, you could give them nightmares."

The words snapped Selka out of her rage. She stared down at the kids sleeping around her and noticed the way their faces were scrunching up fearfully. Some were visibly sweating, the sight dousing her like a splash of cold water.

Flustered, she hurriedly reined herself in and moved the children to sleep elsewhere, placing a blanket overtop of them as she stood up on her feet.

Afterwards, she stared towards Shirou who appeared at the entrance of the building and immediately recognized him for who he was.

Gently maneuvering her feet, she made her way over the sleeping bodies of her fellow people to stand outside where Shirou stood waiting patiently.

The cold breeze blew against her from the moment she exited the tribal building yet she didn't particularly mind despite her current attire. She wore wimple furs that only wrapped around her breasts and waist, and on her ankles, she wore leather bands decorated with long dangling feathers.

She was the prime example of a fit individual such that it was difficult for an average person to take their eyes off of her. Shirou was an exception as he was currently plagued by numerous problems.

From the moment Selka stepped out and arrived near Shirou, she bowed her head lowly in gratitude.

"Once again, you have my thanks for saving us," she spoke curtly before lifting her head.

Shirou acknowledged Selka's sentiments but grew uncomfortable in the following silence. He wanted to bring up the fact that he had come to help heal the injured, but from what he had seen in the tribal building, all of the people from Heiwa aside from Selka were already asleep.

Normally he would have just left, but he had already called out to Selka making it difficult to just up and leave.

Scratching his head for something to say, he finally came up with a suitable topic.

"What do you think of the Border Town?" He asked curiously. "The people here are all friendly and its relatively peaceful with no reports of violence of any sort."

A peaceful town?

Selka furrowed her brows, biting down on her lower lip in her incredulousness.

Why did that statement sound the furthest from the truth given the experts she had seen?

Selka put on a strained smile as she didn't want to appear rude.

"Yeah, it's a pleasant place," she forced out. "We'll be imposing here for a while, but we'll make sure to leave quickly." Selka balled her hands into fists. "There's a debt that must be repaid."

Shirou stared at the anger in Selka's expression and sighed.

"Revenge?" He shook his head. "Have you considered what happens after?"

"…" Selka didn't answer, but the warning glare she was sending towards Shirou seemed to be conveying only a single message. 'You don't know anything, back off.'

Tension filled the air, but as if oblivious to it, Shirou paid everything no mind, causing Selka's eyes to narrow and lips to thin.

"Many of you will die, and your regrets will only continue to pile," Shirou explained.

Selka forced herself to remain civil. She knew full well about the superior physical capabilities of the people of Heiwa and understood that a single punch had the potential to kill.

This was the man who saved her and the others.

The people of Heiwa do not repay gratitude with enmity.

"…Then you expect me to forget this rage burning within me?" She seethed as she forced out the words.

"No. Nothing of the sort." Shirou placed his hands by his side and turned his head to face her. "What I'm trying to say is to use that rage and vigour wisely."

Shirou's explanation took Selka aback, and she momentarily forgot her anger.

"You said that Heiwa was attacked? Have you ever considered where all of you will return to after your revenge?"

"…" Selka had no answer.

"What you need before any thoughts of retaliation is a place where you can call home."

Selka wasn't stupid. She could understand Shirou's underlying meaning, but it was hard for her to accept. People were evil, most of them liars who could condemn one another to death. She had already experienced it first hand.

There were no such things as Heroes. People who saved and helped others indiscriminately.

Only benefits and demerits.

That was how the shitty world worked.

Otherwise, if there really were Heroes, why hadn't one come sooner when her aunties and uncles were slaughtered in front of her eyes?

A lump formed in Selka's throat and she couldn't trust herself to speak immediately.

She sniffled before glaring.

"The people of Hageshi will come if you allow us from Heiwa to stay here in this Border Town." Selka seethed, grabbing the collar of Shirou's shirt and pulling his face close. She was searching for something in Shirou's eyes. A confirmation to reveal his true mentality. "You all will face their full assault, no holds barred."

_Go on._

A voice spoke within Selka's mind, her inner thoughts.

_Say it. Tell us to leave and reveal your true colours!_

Shirou's expression remained neutral not an ounce of hesitation to be seen in his features. It terrified Selka who already understood that she had met an anomaly. An existence never before seen or heard of in this shitty world of violence and deceit.

Someone who cared for others.

Someone who could be so selfless.

A Hero.

_No. NO. There's no way that such a person could actually exist! A Lie. It's a Lie!_

"Then let them."

The confirmation of Shirou's words caused Selka to freeze as a shudder travelled down her back. The grip she had in her hands slackened before her shoulders visibly slumped. She quickly turned her gaze away lest he see the tears trickling down her cheeks.

Shirou pretended he didn't notice out of consideration for what Selka must have been through. Instead, he turned his back to her to allow her some semblance of privacy while looking up at the moonlit sky.

"I don't know what things you must have experienced, or what you think the world as, but," Shirou shifted his gaze to stare in a certain direction where he could see townsfolk silently leaving behind baskets of grain and bread for the Heiwa to consume in the morning. He smiled lightly. "You'll find that this Border Town is different than the Empire and the Nations of Wakoku."

Selka silently wiped away her tears, staring transfixed at the back of a youth she still couldn't believe actually existed.

"If the people of Hageshi come looking for trouble, then what they'll find here will be beyond their wildest imaginations."

For a moment, Selka could have sworn she had seen it. A lonely hill of swords and a wrought Iron Hero who stood upon it.

"I-It was you," Selka muttered softly, looking first towards Shirou, and then towards the wall of swords in the distance.

Shirou neither confirmed or denied Selka's statement. Instead, he turned to look towards her and smiled brightly. "Say," he asked. "What are your thoughts towards employment?"

Huh?

The sudden question left Selka dumbfounded.

* * *

Shirou had heard that the people of Heiwa were exceedingly strong from the idle chatter of the townsfolk in the Border Town.

With the understanding that the people of Hageshi would be attacking the Border Town, he had already been considering the formation of a town guard. Therefore, his sudden action of employing the people of Heiwa could be considered a strategic move while simultaneously preventing Selka from doing anything reckless.

If everything was all well and good, what was it that he had done to have Elaine glaring at him first thing in the following morning? If not for the fact that Artus and Anna once again took Elaine by surprise, then it was likely that he would have had been in for an ear-full.

It was times like these that he considered it a blessing to have younger siblings. He could use them as shields against the women in his life without worrying about harm coming to them.

Unfortunately, he dodged the bullet that was Elaine, for the sword that was Akame.

Exiting his house after the matter with the people of Heiwa was settled, Akame was the first to meet him.

Different from before, she didn't wear the cloak she generally wore to hide her features.

She was in a black sleeveless minidress with an accompanying red tie and white collar. Her sword was strapped to her waist and she looking at him blankly as if there was nothing wrong with her sudden appearance.

"Weren't you trying to hide yourself?" he couldn't help but question.

Akame shrugged. "Changed my mind," she said curtly. "I can observe you better like this."

What Akame didn't say was the fact that no one seemed to react to her appearance in the Border Town. As such, it was too much of a hinderance to constantly run surveillance in the shadows when no one seemed to care about her. Besides, a part of her had actually been swayed to believe that there was something different with Shirou and the quaint town at the border.

It was unprofessional, and Akame knew it, but there were things worth risking her livelihood for. Even the mission assigned to her regarding Edwin and the information she had learned in her investigation.

All that mattered now was seeing if a small spark could turn into a roaring blaze.

Without realizing it, she'd been staring at Shirou for too long, causing him to notice her behaviour and stare back.

She didn't want to admit that she was the one at fault so she inclined her head in a gesture for Shirou to move on.

He didn't waste much time on talking. His most pressing concern was what he could do to prepare for the eventual attack by the people of Hageshi.

He hadn't told anyone at the Border Town about the looming threat yet, but it was because he didn't want to cause a panic. As far as he was concerned, the townsfolk were all kind people who didn't deserve to be plunged into chaos due to his actions. Thus, he would do everything he could with the people directly involved.

The people of Heiwa were physically gifted, Selka explaining to him that many of them didn't bother using traditional weapons due to their weak durability.

Weapons. That was exactly what he was going to supply the Border Town's new guards with.

Striding through the town, Shirou took a detour from his regular routine of heading towards the healing cottage and instead moved towards a certain location. A place with a special meaning to him. The Forge.

_'He was always alone, intoxicated with victory in a hill of swords.'_

Memories of another life flittered through his mind. The hells he had walked and the ideals he had followed. In the time his father was still alive, Shirou had made a promise to remain in the border town to his father; partly out familial piety, and mostly because of the overwhelming desire his father had to shelter him and his siblings from all harm.

Yet now, now was different.

His father had already passed on in peace, and it was now once again time for the sheathed sword to draw itself.

_'A life that had no meaning.'_

Saving all without discrimination. That was who he was as a Hero of Justice.

The Nameless Hero.

He who withstood pain to create thousand of weapons. A blacksmith in all but name.

Once again, it was beginning. A never-ending path.

His path.

He stepped into the forge, his very temperament seeming to shift right before Akame's eyes such that she nearly gasped.

His eyes were tranquil, devoid of doubt like a blank slate, his hands picking up steel and iron.

The people of Heiwa would need weapons to help defend the Border Town. Not just any weapons, but weapons that could allow them to deter any number of enemies even without his aid.

Gaia's influence didn't exist in the new world, therefore, with half of the magical reserves he had at his disposal, he would forge them.

Mystic Codes.

"Trace, on," magical energy exuded from him in pulsating waves of mana that caught Akame completely by surprise.

He didn't care, his attention focused.

The steel and iron in his hands began to mend to his will, the forging process beginning as numerous lines of interface patterns crawled throughout the metal. He placed the product upon the anvil, picked up a hammer, and began hammering the pieces together. Showers of sparks pelted over the floor echoed by sizzling as Shirou rapidly heated and cooled the metal forming in his hands.

To imbue the properties of magic into the mundane.

Creating a perfect synergy and balance that would allow for the storing of magic within weapons.

The sword hanging on Akame's waist thrummed, Akame's eyes widening in disbelief as a blade gradually took form through Shirou's actions.

What Akame was seeing, it wasn't normal forging. It was something else entirely that caused her mind to snap as she witnessed everything first-hand.

"Y-You, what are you doing?" The words left her mouth before she could even register them. Even then, she hardly noticed as Shirou answered.

"Forging," he replied.

A sword formed in Shirou's hands out of a combination of metal, magic, and alteration. Tongues of flame circled around the shaft that formed the likeness of glowing magical symbols.

Runes.

"No, that's _not_ what I meant," Akame's face was pale as her breathing hitched. _'No, it couldn't be!?'_ "That's a weapon isn't it?"

"Yes," he said simply, feeling slightly odd with the way Akame was staring at him as if she had just found a massive discovery. Something revolutionary.

Before, Shirou could even register it, Akame snatched the Mystic Code he had just created from out of his hands, her body trembling in agitation.

_A forging method lost to the Empire and to the known world._

As Akame gripped the Mystic Code in her hands, she channeled within herself, the same energy she used to utilize Murasame. In an instant, the sword erupted with a column of fire that condensed around the sword's blade, producing a fiery red glow that even went as far as to create a thin shield of fire around her.

Akame's breath hitched before she looked at Shirou and said nothing.

Her test all but erased the doubts in her mind, entirely changing the way she viewed Shirou as a person and as a friend that stemmed from a misunderstanding.

Akame resolved herself.

She would have to report her finding to Najenda to decide on a course of action but regardless.

Shirou was someone that _must_ be protected at all costs.

He was someone that both the Empire and the Revolutionary Army would stop at nothing to obtain.

For the weapon created in her hands was undoubtably a Teigu.

An Imperial Arm.

Worse, the person himself didn't seem to have a clue to what kind of political storm his actions would cause. She closed her eyes and thought long and hard about what was to be done.

Unfortunately, she just about fainted when she opened her eyes to see Shirou forging another Teigu in the air without much effort.

W-Was it really that easy?

For some reason, Akame actually began to pity the fools of Hageshi.

They were coming in for far more than what they could ever bargain for.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a world of Kill or be Killed. Where sometimes the cruelest of intentions could be hidden behind the sincerest of smiles.

That was the reality Akame had grown accustomed to dealing with. No, in truth; perhaps it was the only perspective she could believe in anymore.

Parents that abandoned their children for profit. Beggars and the ill dying on the streets. The inhuman treatment of children forced into government authorized assassination training. It had all been part of her life, something that was as simple as a common occurrence.

So then why?

Why was it different here?

The indifference she generally showed on her expression revealed traces of breaking as she walked through the Border Town's dirt street. It was far less developed than the Empire's paved roads and cement buildings, yet it felt more wholesome as if this was how the Empire should have been. Rather than the malicious political campaigns, rotten bloodlines of nobility, and the inability to put faith in others, the simplicity and joy she could see in on the faces of townsfolk left her with feelings of envy.

Perhaps her life may have turned out differently if she were born here and not near the heart of the Empire.

Her hands balled into fists, her head bowing low to avoid people's gazes out of habit yet there was no need.

Raiga of the Mountain Bandits.

Fords the Dextrous Hands.

Smits the Bladesmaster.

Ex-Brigadier General Bukerfield.

All of them were high-profile figures wanted by the Empire for past offences, and highly sought after by the Revolutionary Army for their connections and capabilities.

As if enchanted by some spell, these figures that had the ability to lord over their own territories of land were reduced to a doting father, a senile quack selling wood carvings, a lazy ass, and a feeble old-timer.

It was almost too difficult for her to believe when she considered their reputations within the Empire.

This entire town seemed to exist on another plane of existence.

Just as she could recognize them, surely, they would have recognized her due to the sheer amount of wanted posters the Empire had detailing her bounty as a member of Night Raid. She had secretly prepared herself in case any of them acted out against her, but contrary to her thoughts, they did nothing.

She'd noticed it the first time she went around town, her features obscured by a gaudy cloak, but even when the townsfolk observed of her side profile, nothing happened. There was no suspicion of any sort, which had been odd considering the remoteness of the Border Town. A new addition to the limited population should have at least garnered her more attention, yet to no avail.

Therefore, over the course of her stay in the Border Town, when she wasn't monitoring Shirou, she would take the time to wear less and less of her disguise until the point she was basically walking down the streets as the spitting image of her wanted poster.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing, and she'd be a fool to think that it was because she wasn't recognized.

The way the senior population of the Town gave her knowing glances was perhaps the largest giveaway. Yet within those knowing glances, was a kind of message that caused her brows to furrow subconsciously. It was as if their eyes were saying that it was 'only natural' for her to be here.

It confused her more than she'd like to admit, more so when a part of her was actually growing used to everything by this point.

The her of the past would never have had revealed herself so openly, yet everything seemed to have changed from the moment she met Shirou, the young Lord of the Border Town.

She wondered what Najenda and the rest of her teammates from Night Raid would think if they saw her right now. The thought nearly caused her lips to curl upwards before she berated herself and focused her mind.

In regards to Shirou, the Empire and the Revolutionary Army would target him for his importance alone as a tool of war.

With the ability to heal, and the means to create Teigu, there was no way he would be left alone should she disclose his intel to Night Raid. In the worst-case scenario, Najenda may even order her to bring him in for 'protection' by the insistence of the Revolutionary Army. Subsequently, she didn't have to image the retaliation of the Border Town should their Young Lord be taken so suddenly.

With prominent figures spread evenly across the town, kidnapping the Young Lord would not be an easy endeavor. However, knowing the kind of importance Shirou would have to either the Empire or the Revolutionary Army, many troops could be mobilized for the operation, and at that point, it would be single town against an entire faction.

Defeat would be inevitable.

A part of her didn't want to see it happen so in her latest report, she hadn't mentioned anything about Shirou and his abilities. Instead, she only noted him down as a person of interest and that her target Edwin had not yet revealed himself.

For the first time in years, she felt torn.

The only other time she had ever questioned her way of life was when she had betrayed the Empire's secret Assassination unit and defected under Najenda's persuasion.

_'Come with me, and help put an end to Empire's corruption.'_

She could still remember the words Najenda had spoken to her. It was a simple sentence that still resonated within her which was why the situation was becoming far difficult than it should have been.

In the end, it all boiled down to Shirou and the qualities she saw in him.

It was a hope for a better future that was battering at the belief she carried about the world.

 _If it was him, then maybe…._ It was hard for her not to think along those lines and she struggled inwardly.

In the next moment, she shook her head at a loss, and eventually realized that she'd been walking aimlessly.

The area around her was no longer within the cheerful streets of the town, but had transitioned to the area where the people of Heiwa were residing.

They stared at her with curiosity before returning to their own business with determined expressions.

The people of Heiwa were a neutral faction of Wakoku that generally kept to themselves. The appearance of outsiders had always interested them, but their circumstances were now different. They had been chased and killed out of their own homes before they took shelter at the Border Town.

Even if they were curious to interact with other non-natives, all of them were aware that the people of Hageshi would not give up on them so easily.

Selka, in the place of her father, had forced the able-bodied men to begin training with the Teigu Shirou had created.

Various types of swords and weapons displaying differing attributes and capabilities attracted the attention of not only Akame, but the other townsfolk passing by.

A glint appeared in Akame's pupils as she observed silently.

After the initial discovery of Shirou's ability to create Teigu, she had distanced herself from him to conduct her own investigation regarding the matter. She knew that Shirou possessed some sort of sword-type Teigu that could form swords into various shapes based on her observations of him, but his ability to form unique swords with differing properties confounded her.

It was not something that a single Teigu could do.

A sword that could produce flame, another that could send internal vibrations through the metal, along with all sorts of abilities. Each sword was deadly in their own right, yet it didn't make sense for Shirou's sole Teigu to be able to create new Teigu at random.

Teigus were only known to possess a single unique property belonging to the Danger Beast that they were crafted from. Murasame's for example had a deadly poison that could kill a man with a single cut. In no way could Murasame's suddenly erupt in flames or shoot out coulombs of water. It wasn't that kind of Teigu.

With that reasoning, it was impossible for to accept that Shirou's Teigu could be so versatile. As such, she came to the only logical conclusion, he had a method to create new Teigu.

This was the basis of her investigation which was important enough for her to forego her stalking-erm-observations of the Border Town's Young Lord.

Results turned up immediately.

Her meticulousness was not just for show.

In the small Border Town, there weren't many places Shirou could go to spend his time. All she had done was retrace his steps while looking for clues to the steps he had taken before suddenly producing new Teigu.

In the healing house where Shirou frequented, she had taken out the box she had seen him spend so much time with and scrutinized its contents.

Most of what was within the box had been reduced to a fine grey dust, but when she brushed off the thick upper layers, she managed to pick up a small fragment of what appeared to be bones.

Danger Beast bones that quickly crumbled between her fingers.

That was it. That was all the evidence she needed.

Teigu were crafted by imbuing the unique properties of Danger Beasts into weapons. The variability of the new Teigu Shirou had made had most certainly come form the bones reduced to ashes within the box.

The Empires long lost methods to manufacture Teigu had reemerged in a Border Town that the Empire nor the Revolutionary Army would never have had payed attention to.

Staring at the capabilities of the new Teigu that the people of Heiwa were displaying for practice, she pressed her eyes tight and tried to come to terms with situation.

She promptly left in the next moment, wanting to go to a place where she could be alone.

As much as she enjoyed the novelty of the Border Town, there were times that being alone allowed her to better assess her actions. This was one of those times.

Her legs carried her farther and farther away, the dirt and gravel of the town transitioning to long grass beneath her feet that prickled her exposed calves.

It was a minor bother, and with a simple leap she started moving up over the canopy where she continued on forward.

The way she weaved through the interwoven meshwork of branches and leaves displayed her agility as an assassin. Not even a footprint was left behind to distinguish the path that she had taken.

In Night Raid, she was perhaps the most proficient in being fleet-footed. It was why she was chosen to kill Edwin as the man was known for being difficult to handle unless taken down swiftly. Murasame and her dexterity were the counters to anything Edwin could muster.

Yet, in the current instance, she was shocked to realize that Edwin was the last thing on her mind. In fact, if she hadn't left the Border Town to think on her own, then she may have neglected him for far longer.

It was Shirou's fault.

She was quick to lay blame to the source. If it wasn't for his intervention on their first meeting in the dead of the night, then perhaps she'd already be back at Night Raid awaiting her next assignment.

She sighed, her mouth thinning as she grew pensive.

What was happening to her?

She brushed back a lock of her hair behind her ears in unease.

This wasn't how a professional was supposed to act like. It was almost as if she was reverting to how she used to be before she and her sister were taken in by the Empire as future assassins.

It baffled her, but at the very least, now that she was alone, her competency was returning to her.

Her feet stopped only when she reached the foot of the sword-like wall of steel she had watched Shirou create. It was massive, standing at nearly thirty meters high, the looming shadows produced created cooling drafts of wind even from where she stood near the base.

With a thought, she scaled the thick metal and reached the top for a grand view of the area around her. With the addition of the new wall, the security of the Border Town was unquestionable, but at the same time, the Empire would surely notice and investigate.

It was just another thing she felt like she had to warn the naïve Lord of the Border Town about.

Honestly, she felt like she understood how it was to be a baby sitter at this point.

Her eyes narrowed.

Enough with the small details, it was time to decide on her course of action. However, her decision to come to the top of the wall of steel came with unexpected gains.

Scouts?

She noticed several smaller individuals from her elevated position. As the sun was directly behind her, those individuals were unable to notice her presence and continued to stare at the wall in abject shock before retreating with post-haste.

From the characteristics of the people, they were evidently people of Wakoku, and only one tribe would venture near the border of the Empire to fulfill a goal.

The scouts of Hageshi had arrived.

Her feet immediately carried her away.

Without even thinking about it, the first priority that filled her mind was to warn Shirou.

She paused when she realized this, a tint of red forming on the tips of her cheeks as she pursed her lips tightly.

Really?

She felt her face burning as she thought of her own mindless actions.

What was happening to her?

In the end, she still went back to report.

When Shirou asked why her face was so red, she only had single cold response, her arms crossed together while her head was turned away in shame.

"Shut up," she said.

* * *

Selka had no words to describe how she was currently feeling.

Her people were smiling again after the danger that had threatened to kill them on their journey to the Border Town, and perhaps that was all that mattered?

Her friends and family ran laughing directly in front of her, the children converging by the small creak and bathing with their mothers in the early morning calm. It was something that was a direct result of the way the townspeople and Shirou were treating them.

Even with the little food the town had, bread and meat were provided for breakfast, lunch, and supper without exception.

The gratitude Selka felt was beyond words, therefore she wanted to show her and her people's appreciation through action. None of the people in the Border Town should know that the people of Hageshi were on their way to attack, and they shouldn't have to.

The people of Heiwa would settle everything rather than dragging in the kind people of the Bored Town to their problems.

The only variable was Shirou.

Rather than leave Hageshi's attack for Heiwa alone to handle, he had something different in mind. Using the pretext that he had hired the people of Heiwa as the Border Town's guards, he refused to not involve himself.

It was a kindness and selflessness that Selka had never had the privilege to see within outsiders.

The determination in her gaze intensified as she began a routine of punches and kicks that could shatter rocks into fragmented splinters.

The people of Heiwa were all gifted physically, and Selka was no exception. Moreover, she was different from the other women of Heiwa who generally spent their days as happy caretaker. She always joined the men in morning training.

Using Heiwa's fighting standards, her current capabilities were near the top, her strength was already enough to grapple and wrestle with mountain lions and tigers. Only the fittest of Heiwa's men could contend against her, but most of them had perished to allow her to lead the women and children and safety.

Remembering the way that they used to praise her for her diligence in training and seeing how empty the training field now was with only a few dozen men left, her grief returned in full force.

_Those bastards._

Her hands balled into fists, her nails digging into her palms.

With her father still unconscious and the looming threat of those from Hageshi, there was a lot for her to do.

She glanced at the stockpile of weapons nearby. She wasn't completely ignorant to what they were.

In the Empire they were called Teigu, but in Wakoku they were referred to as Meihou.

Yet she was stunned when she noticed the quantity of them.

There was a total of twenty-five, enough to arm all the remaining able-bodied men of Wakoku and even herself. However, from what she knew, Miehou were rare, only a single blacksmith in Soukai Nation Capital able to produce them.

So then, why were so many presented to her and her people just because they became the Border Town's first guards?

Her lips quivered as she thought back to the figure of that youth who came to her on the night that she felt the most insecure.

That image was ingrained in her memory. To be truthful, she'd been thinking about it constantly in the past few days.

 _'When you find someone worth following, you'll naturally understand what you should do.'_ Her father's words echoed in her mind, yet she still wasn't able to comprehend their significance.

She gritted her teeth before calming herself. She needed to make the best of what she had now that her father was out of commission.

As she and the other men had already practiced with their Meihou, all that was left was general exercise.

Her punches and kicks released acute snapping sounds as the power of her muscles erupted within her limbs.

Agile as the forest hare, and as ferocious as the rock bear.

Those were the principles her father had taught to her in the place of her mother. Her mother had died when she was born, but she too was a Hunter.

Selka was merely following in her mother's footsteps.

Her quick and forceful movements ended up creating a tear in the clothes Shirou insisted that she and the other women of Heiwa wore.

She snorted before tugging at the lapels of the tunic over her torso and directly stripped it off along with the constricting kilt around her legs.

Beneath, she was wearing a standard tank top made of soft wolf's pelt, and a short form-fitting rabbit skin skirt that covered only a tiny amount of her upper thighs. To Shirou, it looked like she was wearing nothing but underwear so he had tried to reason with her to change the general attire of the women of Heiwa, but all he got in response were confused expressions.

The people of Heiwa favoured living in the wild and away from corruption and greed. The small and thin fabrics they wore allowed for maximum mobility so none of Heiwa's people saw anything wrong with their attire. Even the men fancied shorter lengthened beast kilts, but the main issue lied with traditions. Men were stronger bodied so they focused their attention on strength-based training while the woman naturally focused on agility in their spare time.

In regards to public morals, the reasoning was simple.

'Weren't the important parts already covered?'

That was all that mattered to the people of Heiwa to which Shirou had no response but to give up and start pleading.

Recalling how easily she'd given in when he started begging her, she started to consider why her aunties started calling her an 'easy woman.' To begin with, what were they even hinting at?

Her expression was hard to discern, but thinking of Shirou caused Selka's mood to brighten somewhat and soften her features.

She felt that he and the people of the town were different from the liars her father had warned her to be careful of because they all seemed genuine.

The warmth of the sun overhead shone down on her, the relatively light clothing she wore allowing her to bask in the heat of the early morning after her exercise. The other men around her had already left to bath in the creak after the women finished using it.

Naturally, Selka didn't follow.

Even if she decided to be a hunter and had good relationships with the other Hunters, she was still a girl. To bath with men at her age was embarrassing even for her.

A sheen of sweat masked her face while tiny beads formed over her skin and trickled down her toned body. The cool breeze that blew buy cooled her down before she took an offered towel from a child and began drying herself off.

"Thank you, little one," she said, tousling the child's hair.

The child pouted at her actions, but she didn't stop. Children would only be children once in their life. She might as well make the best of it and indulge in her maternal instincts.

The child pouted and simultaneously pulled away from her, sticking out his tongue in provocation, but Selka only laughed when the boy paled and ran away when she moved to pinch his cheeks. The brat.

Left alone, she left farther up stream where she could bath in pace without others disturbing.

Cleaned, it was only then that she made her way to look for Shirou.

The day before, Shirou had informed her that scouts from Hageshi were seen in the surroundings outside of the steel wall surrounding the Border Town.

With the emergence of the scouts, Selka knew that it wouldn't be long before the rest of the vanguard arrived followed by the main force.

It was imperative that she at least know whether or not Shirou had a plan. Otherwise, she was intending on sharing her information about Hageshi so that adequate countermeasures could be prepared.

Perhaps the largest variable was the fact that the people of Hageshi had mastered a means to tame Danger Beasts. It was because of this fact that the people of Heiwa whose physical capabilities were far stronger than those of Hageshi had lost so badly.

She needed to give Shirou a warning.

She didn't want the same thing that happened in the land of Heiwa to happen to the Border Town.

It was an unacceptable outcome to her, therefore, she urged herself to move faster.

The building that looks the least like a Noble's manor is where Shirou was staying at. She'd taken this memo to heart the first time she saw Shirou's home. It was large, but it was rather plain, most of the rooms being used for storage and guests who had no place to stay.

Shirou had offered to house the people of Heiwa in his manor, but Selka felt like she was taking advantage of Shirou's kindness too much and refused adamantly.

Knowing exactly where she was going, it didn't take her long to make her way through the Border Town and towards the front door of Shirou's manor.

As she attempted to walk into the house, she noticed a woman standing by the door that stopped her.

Recalling the name of this woman, Selka remembered that her name was Elaine.

Elaine was Shirou's attendant and friend so it was only natural for her to stop visitors by the door. Selka obviously understood this because she often had the same treatment in Heiwa. She was the chief's daughter and she had also had a personal aide that helped manage who could meet with her.

Knowing this, Selka got straight to the point and spoke her intentions.

"I'm looking for Shirou," she said curtly.

She got no response, prompting her to frown. "Is there a problem?" She asked, straightening her back.

Elaine wasn't reacting. Her gaze was glued to Selka's attire while her expression stiffened. Rather than wear the clothes Shirou had given her, in Selka's haste, she had worn Heiwa's standard beast skin garments. On her wrists and ankles were leather bands woven with eagle feathers.

The light furs that Selka wore could in no way hide her slender curves and natural beauty. Her midriff was entirely exposed and a portion of her lower breast was showing due to their ample size. Her tan skin was still fresh from bathing and it had a shine and glossiness to it that darkened Elain's expression further. "Are you a hustler?" Elain asked in all seriousness.

"Yes?" Selka answered questioningly.

The people of Heiwa naturally lived in isolation. Most of the words and insults that they used were local to them alone. For example, splashing water over someone's butt was considered one of the greatest humiliations for a Hunter. It meant that they were careless and allowed someone to sneak up on them. In contrast, touching someone's but with the person aware of your approach was a sign of interest for the other person. The notion was founded based on the way the forest baboons initiated sexual contact.

Elaine didn't know what to say at that point. She was smart enough to determine that Selka did not understand her insult in the slightest. Her eye twitched. "At the very least put something on!"

Elaine unbuttoned her upper wear and draped it over Selka's shoulders. Beneath Elain's upper-wear, she was wearing a blouse, so she didn't mind lending it away. What she was more concerned about was protecting Shirou's innocence, yet Selka's naivety was a hard hurdle to overcome.

"I don't need this?" Selka stared at Elaine in confusion while idly fiddling with the cloth suddenly draped over her. It was too tight around her chest, the buttons straining, and that fact infuriated Elain further.

"J-Just go inside," Elaine gnashed her teeth, restraining her indignation. "Shirou's in his father's study."

Selka nodded before tilting her head at the way Elaine was glowering at her.

 _Outsiders were strange._ The thought entered her mind before she altered it when considering Elaine's actions when compared to Shirou's. _Outside women are strange._ Selka concluded.

It was at that moment that Elaine would realize in the future that she probably should have corrected Selka's mentality before she began describing Elaine as a strange woman to the people of Heiwa.

Future regrets aside, Elaine was too busy pouting at her own chest size to consider anything else. As a woman, she had been defeated by a person that was utterly clueless. It was a mortal blow that caused Elaine shoulders to sag.

Selka saw Elaine's reaction, but attributed to her earlier thoughts and simply nodded.

Walking through Shirou's house, Selka reached the study and promptly knocked on the door. "May I come in?" She called out, a hand subconsciously moving to straighten her hair.

"Go ahead," was the swift reply.

She pushed open the doors, and as she expected, Shirou was inside sitting on a desk working on paper work Elaine had given to him to manage. When he had last left the Border Town and rescued the people of Heiwa, he had been gone for the whole day. The work piled up, and he couldn't just leave it either.

Like Selka, Shirou didn't want the people at the Border Town to get involved with the situation against Hageshi, therefore, he needed to keep suspicions off of himself. To suddenly not have time to fulfill his obligations, that was surely a red sign that Elaine could exploit to thereby look into his personal business.

He scratched his head tiredly. The things he had to do to keep those close to him safe. At the very least, his siblings were going through a sleeping stage where they spent most of their day napping as their bodies grew.

Tiny reliefs, but they add up eventually, he consoled himself.

"So, is there something you wanted to talk about?" He called out, feeling relieved that he could put away the quilt he'd been holding for hours. If he could burn the papers, he would have had burned them as well, but they necessary to fool Elaine.

Selka nodded her head while acting reserved. "I wanted to discuss the strategy against the people of Hageshi."

Unexpectedly, her words were met with a strangled silence.

She stared at Shirou, and realized how stiff his back had gotten, and the fact that he wouldn't meet her gaze.

It couldn't possibly be? Right?

"Y-You did actually consider some sort of plan, didn't you?" She inquired, stepping forward in all seriousness.

Shirou smiled awkwardly, a finger rubbing at his cheek.

He didn't have a plan. The most he was considering to do was to step out personally. Given what he had seen of the capabilities of the people near the Border Town, the mystic codes he had created should be enough of a deterrence. Therefore, he didn't really consider anything else.

"…" Selka's eyes were piercing.

Still, she eventually just sighed. "At the very least, we still have time to think of something right?"

"Unfortunately, not. There's no more time to discuss plans," a voice echoed into the room.

Moments later, Akame dropped in from a window. In recent days she'd been spending her time scouting the area atop the steel walls. "The people of Hageshi are here."

Akame's admission was met with abrupt action.

Shirou sat up while Selka immediately bolted out of the house to mobilize the Hunters of Heiwa. Akame simply decided to tail Shirou from the shadows lest she explain her presence to Elaine who peered into the study after Selka left.

"Is there something wrong?" Elaine asked, there was a knowing light in her eyes that Shirou didn't notice due to his urgency.

"No, no, everything's fine, but there's someone I promised I'd heal today so please watch over Artus and Anna." Saying that, Shirou briskly walked passed Elaine, muttering a small apology as he patted her shoulder reassuringly.

Left behind, Elaine bit down on her lips, feeling exceedingly disheartened.

 _Why didn't you ask for help?_ She thought to herself.

She clenched her fists before running off to the heart of the Border Town.

There were things that had to be prepared.

* * *

Danger Beast.

Special Class: Mountain Shaker.

It was a type of Danger Beast that was unique in their size and general strength. They were Quadrupedal behemoths that were generally docile and solitary. They were reptile like in appearance and each carried a towering spire of rock on their backs that could increase and decrease in weight on a whim.

The vibrations generated from their movements were what earned them the name of Mountain Shaker. By increasing the weight of their loads and crashing into the ground, they could release ultra sonic vibrations and tremors that could shatter all obstacle in their path. Their body height alone was nearly thirty meters tall and that was without counting the weights on their backs.

They would have been classified as a Super Class Danger Beast if they weren't so easy to avoid. The fact that they spent most of their days hibernating after a meal was also taken into consideration.

Even from where Shirou, Akame, and Selka stood with the Hunters of Heiwa atop the steel wall, they could feel the tremors of the earth.

"The bastards of Hageshi must have noticed the wall to employ four Mountain Shakers at once," Selka's tone was grave but Akame didn't comment. She had seen the scouts a few days earlier and already knew that they'd seen the wall. It was only natural that they would come up with a counter.

Selka was inwardly feeling guilty. If she had consulted with Shirou earlier, then he would have had known that the people of Hageshi had the means to tame Danger Beasts. The Mountain Shaker, being one of the more docile types was favoured by the Hageshi in Siege wars.

Steel or not, the walls would not hold should the Mountain Shakers get close, but fortunately, the Mountain Shakers were slow by nature.

There was still time to think.

* * *

Elsewhere, hiding within the foliage outside the steel walls were the townsfolk of the Border Town; many of them had already prepared for battle days earlier and had set up fortifications at strategic locations. When Elaine had notified them that Shirou was moving towards the steel wall, the entire town secretly mobilized and was waiting in case the situation soured.

Perhaps the only ones in the Border Town who didn't know that the inhabitants were actually professionals was Shirou and his siblings, but that was how the late General intended it.

"Why aren't we helping yet grandfather?" Elaine's voice was slightly clipped, the worry in her tone evident. She was staring pleadingly at an old man with greying hair and long a beard, the Ex-Brigadier General of the Empire, Lord Bukerfield.

The two were located behind a forest canopy, the dense branches in the are making it difficult for them to get spotted.

"Even if we can't deal with the Mountain Shakers, surely if we kill their tamer's they'd become useless," Elaine insisted.

"There's no hurry woman," Lord Bukerfield said gruffly. "Shirou is the son of the late General. There's no way that the General would die without at least teaching his eldest son some skills. Shirou shouldn't be so simple. We've all known this from the moment he tried to hunt Danger Beasts alone."

Elaine curled her lips back and frowned. She was still worried.

Shirou was her friend and she had grown up with him while specifically being trained to guard and keep him safe. At the beginning, she rebelled against her father's wishes to continue their duty as subordinates to the General's family, but it all changed when she realized the type of person Shirou was. He was caring and selfless, choosing to help others when he himself asked for nothing.

From then on, she never neglected her responsibilities again.

"Even still, we have to do something!" Elaine glowered at her stuck-up grandfather.

"Quiet woman," Lord Bukerfield rebuked. "Your father has not taught you well enough if think it's appropriate to question your grandfather's decisions. Besides, the situation may not be as bleak as you think." Lord Bukerfield grinned, his expression expectant as he watched the battlefield intently.

However, he wasn't prepared for the words that pierced directly into his heart at the next instant.

"I won't cook for you anymore," Elaine said coldly, crossing her arms and turning her back.

Lord Bukerfield stiffened, the neutrality of his poker-face breaking. "Cherished granddaughter, let's not get too carried away here," he tried placatingly. "Food is life and death, and your grandpa is already old."

Elaine looked at her nails and didn't speak a word.

_This rebellious brat with small boobs._

Lord Bukerfield gritted his teeth in frustration before reluctantly gesturing with his hands for Raiga and the others to get ready to intervene.

* * *

Meanwhile, atop the tower Shirou had been considering the problem at hand as he watched the people of Hageshi command the Mountain Shakers forward while keeping their distance.

Four-hundred meters.

There were only Four-hundred meters left before contact.

Looking at Akame and Selka's expressions, it was clear that no one was confident in defeating the Danger Beasts in front. The hides of the Mountain Shakers were too dense. Furthermore, defence was the Mountain Shaker's strongest trait.

Not even the mystic codes he had created could do much damage. What was needed was something more forceful, a weapon of crystalized legend.

A Noble Phantasm. One strong enough to change the tide of battle.

However, he'd used up most of his reserves creating weapons, therefore, all he had to rely on were his physical capabilities and regular steel swords imbued with magecraft.

He clicked his tongue.

From the way the people of Hageshi which numbered a few hundred were trailing behind the Mountain Shakers, it was clear that the Mountain Shakers were only being used to tear down the steel walls. After all, Danger Beasts would not distinguish between enemy and ally in their attacks, especially one that was as large as the Mountain Shakers.

With the way the ground was shaking, there was no way that the people of the Border Town would not notice.

He had to do something and fast.

As his mind worked on overdrive, Selka and the other people of Heiwa did something that immediately caught his attention while they prayed for victory.

From their necks, they each held onto pieces of dried bone that were unmistakable to his eyes.

Danger Beast bones.

"Selka," he called out swiftly. "Those necklaces, what are they?" He asked to clarify.

Selka stared at him anxiously, but still explained everything in a clear voice. "These are Danger Beast fangs and talons that the Hunters of my people had gathered in their hunts against lower-ranked Danger Beasts. They are tokens of honour for all Hunters."

Selka had three of such fangs fitted to her necklace while some of the other Senior Hunters carried several dozen on their person.

This, this could work.

Shirou's eyes began calculating the amount energy he could extract from the Danger Beast bones before calculating that the quantity would be enough to return him to his peak state. Although Selka said that the Danger Beast bones were only made from lower-ranked Danger Beasts, he could tell that the ones on Selka were of a high rank. It was the same for the more experienced Hunters.

"I need those bones," he said with all seriousness.

Selka and the other Hunters faltered as the bones represented their honour, but in the end, they realized that it wasn't the time to be hesitating.

Meanwhile, Akame widened her eyes in realization when Shirou piled up the Danger Beast bones into a pile which he placed his hands over.

 _H-He's going to make another Teigu,_ Akame was certain of it.

"Go," Shirou's voice echoed for all to hear. "Leave the Danger Beasts to me."

Selka and the Hunters didn't question Shirou and promptly leapt down the steel wall to confront their enemies.

Akame wavered for a moment, before she too joined up with Selka and the others.

Left to his business, he wasted no time and quickly began extracting the magical energy before him. One by one, the fangs and talons were bursting into pieces of dust under his palms. With each broken fang and talon, he felt surge after surge of energy coursing through him.

Ten percent.

Thirty.

Sixty.

Ninety.

One-Hundred.

His pupils shone with a bluish hue, his posture straightening, his legs propping him onto his feet.

Something in the air trembled.

If Danger Beasts were walking congregation of stored magical energy, then right now he was no different as his Twenty-Seven Magical Circuits thrummed to life.

The river that was dry flooded with water once more.

" **I am the Bone of my Sword**."

The beginning of his mantra left his lips, fueling the path of his magic within him.

Unseen fluctuations traveled through the air, the Mountain Shakers freezing in place.

Akame, Selka, the Hunters, and even Elaine abruptly shot up their head to the sky, their eyes dilating, throats dried.

Without even revealing the presence of the twenty-five new Teigu, the people of Hageshi were already stupefied in the distance.

T-That wasn't possible!

Shirou used his left hand to support his right forearm. The magic within him shifting into a gale.

His fingers twitched, zephyrs forming a miniature hurricane atop his palm, and from it appeared a massive pommel.

There were four mountain-sized enemies placed sporadically away from each other, and he didn't have enough energy to fire four different blasts from a Noble Phantasm. At most he could only fire one or two before he'd have to start conserving energy. Therefore, he would make something that would count.

Something that would live up to its name.

His body trembled, his veins popping as his eyes grew blood-shot.

Yet in the end, he unleashed it.

The hurricane forming into a typhoon.

A shadow loomed in the horizon, blotting out the sun.

It was colossal.

If the enemy was the embodiment of the mountains themselves, then so be it.

-Let the mountains fall.

The Green Field Cutting Through Thousands.

Ig-Alima

The Mountain Felling Sword.


	7. Chapter 7

Let the world tremor beneath its might. A massive sword that towered over thousands beyond mortal means. A behemoth that stood uncontested within the clouds like a looming executioner's blade.

He was falling. Falling so fast that the winds were whipping violently against his body, blowing him backwards and causing him to narrow his eyes in focus, an arm outstretched behind him in his descent.

He was not holding it. In fact, it appeared more as if it were levitating a few feet above his palm.

Ig-Alima, the Mountain Felling Sword.

He had jumped, unwilling for the weight of Ig-Alima to contest against the erected steel wall and as a result, he was diving forward. In the eyes of the rest, he was no more than a spec that existed beneath the pressure of the weapon trailing above him.

Yet that single spec had the ability to swing his arm downward and beckon the blade to fall.

That which could rend the mountains asunder, to fell demons and the opposition before it through sheer power alone, revealed its true ability. The Green Field Cutting Through Thousands.

It did not matter what stood before it. Mountains, walls, castles, armies, all were the same.

Mere objects to be cut down.

The winds blew fierce, tornado-like zephyrs forming around Ig-Alima's edge as it swung forth with the might of a giant.

It seemed to strike in slow motion, or perhaps it was merely a trick of the eye, but none could shift their attention away.

The events unveiling before them was something that wasn't humanly possible. None of the Teigu Akame could list in her mind possessed such a distinct and overbearing aura. It was suffocating, Ig-Alima's shadow stretching for miles on end, capturing all light in the area.

The world was roaring, a by-product of the sound barrier breaking.

Elaine and the others watching the events unfold had no choice but to cover their ears, and even then, the vibrations travelled up their bodies. Without even talking about back up, did Shirou even need it at this point?

The people of the Border Town simply watched in muted silence. This was the son of their General. The strength of the New Leader of the Border Town.

When Ig-Alima struck the first Mountain Shaker, the Danger Beast could hardly resist against the momentum and was swiped away. Then came the second, the third, and the fourth. Ig-Alima's strike only stopped with the combined efforts of all four. Even then, the mountains which they had carried on their backs were cleanly cut through, blood seeping in pools that showered over the tall trees.

"GO!" Shirou's voice resounded, snapping Akame and the others out of their daze. Despite the injuries the Mountain Shakers sustained, they weren't completely defeated yet, and it was Shirou who was buying time for them.

Once swung, Shirou could not easily lift Ig-Alima back up due to its size in comparison to his own. Akame and the rest had to act fast as they weren't sure what toll Shirou was paying to produce such a weapon.

Selka quickly snapped her gaze away, shutting herm mouth closed from how she'd once been gawking. It simply wasn't the time to remain still, not with Shirou taking on the greater danger.

She sucked in a breath, muscles growing taught and toes digging into the earth.

She burst forward with her kinsmen, her lithe form fully adjusted to maneuvering through the dense forest and resembling the figure of an elusive jaguar. The mystic codes Shirou had traced for her were in the form of two daggers strapped to her thighs. Once stabbed, Shirou had informed her that one dagger had the ability to instil temporary blindness while the other instilled paralysis.

Shirou then explained to her how to properly use them, but she stopped listening after he started using terminology that she was unfamiliar with. She simply nodded her head from thereafter and she was certain that it was the same for the other Hunters of Heiwa. Besides, all that mattered was that she knew that stabbing them was all that she had to do. She just had to think of the people of Hageshi as one of the many wild animals her people hunted in the previous hunting grounds of Heiwa and strike before they locate her presence.

She evened her tempo, unwilling to tire herself out too early.

From where she was, she could see the people of Hageshi still caught up in a state of shock from Shirou's display. It would be the last scene that they would see, and it wasn't because of Selka. Instead, with a speed almost indiscernible to the common eye, a blade flashed in and out, leaving tiny marks over the enemy's necks or exposed skin.

One cut was all it took for death to come.

A poisonous curse that did not distinguish between anyone.

Widening her eyes, Selka was just fast enough to notice Akame's figure blur out of focus, her sword clicking into its sheath as she moved on elsewhere.

It was like Akame was saying 'I'm better than you,' with how quickly she was taking down her targets and it irked Selka who took pride as the only woman Hunter in Heiwa. Moreover, there was saying in Heiwa where only the most capable got to decide their mates. Considering that she'd seen Akame by Shirou's side before, a part of her was subconsciously feeling threatened.

She didn't want to lose.

Gritting her teeth, Selka launched dirt into the air as she lunged forward, kicking off the ground and weaving in-between dense patches of bramble to reach her target. In a single motion, her hands moved to her thighs, unhooking the daggers Shirou had given her and holding them in a reverse grip.

The enemy hardly saw her coming.

The people of Heiwa had always been physically superior to all local residents of Wakoku, and the Hageshi were no exception. If not for the fact that the Heiwa were ambushed and were forced to contend against the Danger Beasts that the people of Hageshi had sent, then Heiwa would not have fallen so easily.

The dagger in her left hand cut into the enemy's arm, his body freezing up as paralysis set in before the dagger in her right hand cut through his throat.

The man she'd just killed wasn't alone, three others were around him. They stared at her in stupefaction before quickly composing themselves. They'd been through many conflicts and could quell their unease forcibly. The only reason that they had been caught off guard before was that they'd never seen anything quite like what Shirou had done.

In any case, they glared at Selka while readying their weapons, two swords and a metal spear that was hung over their backs.

"Die!" One of them yelled, thrusting forward with his sword.

In the past, the people of Hageshi had always been ill-equipped. Their weapons nothing more than primitive tools as they generally relied on their bodies to take down targets.

This time was different.

Selka's eyes traced the trajectory of the blade and her hands moved to intervene, the clanging of metal resounding as sparks illuminated her face. Pitted against her enemy's sword, the daggers Shirou had given her did more than just hold up against the enemy blade. It was slowly tearing through it. Any moment, the sword would snap, and her dagger would directly stab into the light leather armour of the enemy.

Noticing the danger their comrade was in, the other two people of Hageshi attacked. One moved to strike behind her while the other circled to her back.

Seeing a sword aimed straight for her throat, she used her free hand and batted it away while pushing off with her feet to evade the attack at her blind-spot; not that she needed to as a pillar of fire scorched the enemy into cinders.

She grinned, twisting out of sword lock and flipping backwards into the air. Torrents of different elements then engulfed her enemies as the rest of the Hunters of Heiwa caught up with her.

"Onward!" She yelled; a hand pointed forward.

The weapons Shirou had given to the people of Hageshi weren't just limited to her own. They came in several varieties that incorporated different ranges and abilities. Her daggers for example were for close proximity while the attack that had taken out the three people of Hageshi were from a sword that spewed forth flame.

Despite defeating her opponents, Selka did not let up. She was trying to keep count of how many enemies Akame defeated so that she knew how many she'd have to defeat. Unfortunately, in her earlier bout, Selka had long since lost track of Akame who made her way directly to the back line of Hageshi.

Akame was moving in the shadows, bypassing the common fodder and searching for someone of importance. In any army, the one that absolutely needed to die was the commander who organized the entire army.

To kill a beast or an army, one need only aim for its head. Anyone else who'd aim for the body was only an inexperienced fool who would waste the efforts of many.

The commander was who she was aiming for. Without the enemy leader gone, then no matter how damaged the rest of the army was, there was still a chance at recovery and reorganization. She would not let that happen.

Avoiding detection, she used the distraction that Selka and the people of Heiwa were causing to quietly sneak into her intended destination.

The people of Hageshi had come with roughly two-hundred people to besiege the Town at the Border. The main vanguard was supposed to have been the Mountain Shakers, but they were currently being occupied. This meant to say that the group from Hageshi were in a state of disarray from the failure of their plans.

It was the perfect condition for an assassin to take advantage of.

Spying at the enemy in front of her, Akame took careful note to look out for the most conspicuous appearing individual, or at the very least, someone who appeared to be in charge. The people of Hageshi weren't like the people of Heiwa who preferred wearing lighter beast-skins. Instead, they wore outfits that resembled that of brigands, wearing anything that they could get their hands on which was sufficient for defence.

It made Akame's task harder, but she was able to tell through experience just who was in command. All she had to do was trace back the line of sight of the common soldier. That individual who was being stared at the most was most likely her intended target.

Low and behold, her observations soon led her to stare at a man that stood at the rear of the army. His face was masked behind the head of a hunted animal, and the rest of his body was covered completely in tough leather armour.

There weren't many openings that she could exploit, and making her way towards the man would prove difficult unassisted. Being that Selka and the others had only just begun their attack, they would not be able to aide her anytime soon until they'd broken through the enemy front line.

She was going to have to go in alone.

Around fifty guards were around her target, all highly vigilant and carrying the best equipment in the army- full sets of armour and sharpened weapons gleaming under the light of the sun.

It wasn't going to be an easy kill, but with her skill, it was possible.

The only thing left for her to contemplate over, was a single question. Was it worth the risk?

Did she really have to put her life in danger to defend a town she'd only recently gotten to know?

It was a hard choice. The killer inside her could see no benefit in the situation, but the true part of her did not wish to see the Border Town or Shirou fall. Despite the bravado Shirou had displayed in taking on the four Danger Beasts, Akame could still distinctly recall Shirou's condition directly after he'd created the steel walls around the Border Town. Maybe just defeating the Mountain Shakers would exhaust him? He would then die if unprotected.

_No._

_It wasn't a sight she wanted to see. Not someone like him. The sort of individual who couldn't lie for shit to save his own life._

Murasame was steadily drawn from its sheath. She wasn't going to think too deeply about it anymore. All that mattered was that the enemy was before her eyes.

She was Akame of Night Raid, someone whose wanted poster had circulated throughout the entire Empire. She was by no means a weak individual. She was deadly.

In a burst of motion, she acted, pushing off from a tree and directly sprinting forward.

She needed to get rid of the guards around the commanding leader.

Still, someone else beat her to it.

The fact that Akame was wrong in her prediction of how long it would take Selka and the others to arrive was not something she deeply dwelled over.

Instead, a smirk played on her lips as Selka and the other Hunters of Heiwa suddenly appeared; the combination of the Mystic Codes that Shirou had Traced for them and their natural physical abilities, too much for the people of Hageshi to handle.

As Selka and the other Hunters of Heiwa directly cleared a path for Akame to take, Akame couldn't help but furrow her brows when she saw the way Selka was seriously staring at her. It was like she was being seen as some sort of rival with the look of victory on Selka's face.

"I win, he's mine."

Akame did not understand Selka's words nor did she choose to. She was just thankful that there were no guards that she'd have to deal with. One-on-one was her specialty.

Wasting no time, she lunged forward to attack her target, observing him for any moves that he would take. Unexpectedly, he just stood still, making her even more weary of a sudden counter.

She stopped just shy of six feet away from him. Far enough that she couldn't be reached by his sword, and close enough that she could strike him if he tried to run away. Her hands gripped Murasame in a horizontal grip, her legs spread into an open stance, ready to shift her weight at a moment's notice.

The man eyed her closely, but it was clear that most of his attention was still on Shirou in the distance, fighting against the Mountain Shakers.

She was being disregarded. At any other time, she may have attacked to prove a point, but she could see no fear in the man's expression when he had regarded her.

"You are Akame of Night Raid?" The man spoke absently despite the fact that his army of two-hundred was in the midst of a massacre.

She did not answer, trying to gauge what exactly the enemy commander was getting at.

"No matter," the man shook his head. "You wish to kill me so I will soon repay this debt by killing you."

Despite the man's threat, he made no move to attack her and instead narrowed his gaze in the distance. "How unfortunate though that I don't wish to waste my efforts. I did not foresee that such a powerful Teigu user existed in this quaint Town. A severe miscalculation."

Th man was gripping his fists so tightly, that Akame noticed small droplets of blood falling from his palms.

As if to insult her ability, the man even turned his back towards her. It would be a fatal mistake.

Her eyes grew cold, and in a single slash, she beheaded her enemy, yet still the voice continued.

"A blunder, a blunder indeed."

She watched as the body of the enemy commander faded into a smoke as if he'd never even existed. From how Murasame was reacting, she understood what was going on immediately. A Teigu user. She was fighting against a Teigu user whose ability seemed to allow him to project images of himself. Therefore, from the very beginning, the man commanding the army might not have been present at all. He was probably watching from somewhere, observing hoe the battle would play out.

With their commander seemingly killed, Selka and the others had no trouble defeating the rest of the people of Hageshi.

The only one left fighting was Shirou.

* * *

Ig-Alima had lodged itself firmly into the ground after its initial strike. The towering sword was so heavy that from the moment it made contact with the earth, an abyss like crevice was produced with violent tremors.

The four Mountain Shakers were rendered groggy, injured, and disorientated after the opening strike. However, they still posed a significant danger. Panicked, the entire group of them began attacking in all directions, their size alone toppling trees and crushing everything.

It was to the point where Elaine and the others from the Border Town were forced to retreat and simply wait for Shirou's return. Many would act like nothing had happened, but Elaine would look at Shirou's strangely for the next few weeks after the battle resolved.

In any case, as Shirou stared at the four massive Danger Beasts rampaging in front of him, he looked to Ig-Alima and considered his options. With one swing, he'd cleaved off the mountains that seemingly sprouted from the backs of the Danger Beasts, reducing their size by half, yet they weren't incapacitated. He should have aimed for their heads, but he had wanted to catch all of them and gather them in one location. To that end, his goal was met.

In a single motion, he dismissed Ig-Alima, the giant construct fading away into mots of glowing light. It was simply impractical to continue using it as he could not readily lift it off the ground.

From where he stood, he could see that Akame and Selka had completed their objectives, therefore, it was just him that needed to finish his part.

Nuke them? Strike them? He considered his options in regards to the injured Mountain Shakers, but it hardly mattered. Efficiency was best in a world where he could not readily replenish his energy.

Ig-Alima had taken more out of him than he had thought, which goes to show how much effort it generally took to Trace a copy of something that was akin to a Divine Construct. He was panting, his reserves fairly low, but his spirits high as he stared at the Danger Beasts in front of him like a Mountain of Gold. So what if he ran out of energy? He could replenish himself afterwards. What mattered now was using what little he had left to conclude the battle.

His arms extended in front of him, grabbing at the air as tendrils of blue lightning erupted over the ground. "Trace, On."

He invoked an incantation, summoning a bow and an arrow which he heavily flooded with all his remaining magical power and more. A Noble Phantasm produced in such a manor was aptly called a 'Broken Phantasm.'

The sword that appeared was spiraled, and twisted, the rampant energy breaking the sword apart. Bands of energy held the general shape of the sword in place, and as he nocked the sword over his bow, the air itself began to distort.

It was a sword of the Rainbow.

Flooded with power and broken, it incorporated the truest aspect of its Legend and became a sword of light shining amidst the splendor of battle.

It was blinding. The beacon where all turned to stare.

As the prototype of many weapons, it was a magic sword with relations to even Excalibur Galatine, the sword of the Sun. Ripples formed in space, distortions that seemed on the verge of breaking reality.

To Selka and the people of Heiwa, the sight wasn't just a Teigu or a mere arrow, it was a scene of liberation. The embodiment of the God of Light that they worshipped in nature and a weapon of the Divine.

Light would pierce through the dark, illuminating the skies.

"Soar," his knees bent, his arms outstretched.

A shimmer stretching forth to reveal the rainbow.

" **Caladbolg!** "

The world exploded, the shockwave itself uprooting the nearby trees and foliage as the bowstring released. Shirou was no exception as he was blown back like a ragdoll, utterly out of power as the light of his attack expanded to resemble a shooting star.

Gathered together, and utterly unable to avoid the attack due their size, the Mountain Shakers could only roar in grief as the arrow pierced directly through them all. Space itself twisted, rendering all defences that the Danger Beasts put up to be useless.

By the time the attack dissipated, only unmoving remains were left.

The man watching the events unfold in the distance could not believe what he'd just seen. The importance, he'd placed on Shirou increased significantly, but the man would not risk an encounter just yet. In a single motion, he retreated back in the direction of Hageshi. Preparations needed to be made.

Meanwhile, Shirou himself was left at a loss. He was expecting pain when he was launched back by the recoil of his own attack, but contrary to his expectations, he'd been caught.

He looked up, just in time to see Akame's neutral expression and that was all that he needed to see before completely relaxing much to Akame's inner turmoil.

Again. He was doing it again.

No matter how Akame tried to reason with herself, she couldn't understand how Shirou could trust his life to her so easily when he wasn't even certain if she was truly a friend or foe.

"Idiot," the words left her lips before she realized her actions.

Shirou looked up at her, but she pretended as if she couldn't see him. Besides, he was already looking awfully tired, similar to his state in the past. His complexion was somewhat pale, and he seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open. Did she need to bring him back to his Healing center? She contemplated the matter thoroughly, but was unable to take action as Selka and the Hunters quickly surrounded her, smiles on their faces.

* * *

The battle was over, and to her credit, Akame was able to maintain the neutrality of her face despite her inner turmoil. A shudder was making its way down her back, watching the way Selka and the Hunters of Heiwa paraded an exhausted Shirou up and down into the air as if he was some sort of exotic animal. Worse, she wasn't being excluded despite how small she was making herself appear.

The flush making its way up her face was clearly not due to her embarrassment at participating in such an event but because she couldn't control how fast her heart was beating and furiously pumping blood through her body. Better yet, it was most likely the result of an after-workout state instead of her being no longer accustomed to joyous activities.

Death, killing, and targets, that was all that her life had always accounted for after her parents had sold her off, and it was something that she never believed would change. Which was why, she was gradually growing flustered, unable to determine the emotion for what it was and believing it to be something else.

The number of times she'd caught herself inching her hand towards her sword in a bid to flee were too many to count, but her role in assassinating the enemy commander couldn't be left unaccounted for. She'd saved just as many lives as the enemy commander could have had killed, making her contributions highly significant.

The people of Heiwa were physically strong, their livelihoods made off of hunting beasts and animals. Once in their clutches, even someone as agile as Akame was left helpless given her self restrictions. She could not kill them just for sharing their enthusiasm after all, and besides, the smile subconsciously working its way up her face was a clear sign of how infectious the current atmosphere was.

The people of Heiwa would not release her until they'd shown their appreciation and that was the same for Shirou who simply decided to pass out from his exertion. He was already tired from pushing himself in the earlier conflict and all he'd wanted to do was replenish his energy as fast as possible. However, his efforts were thwarted from the beginning as he was quickly carried away, a hand still uselessly trying to reach towards the bodies of the Mountain Shakers.

He'd passed out then and there, leaving only Akame to cope with the situation.

By the time Akame had escaped, it was already in the late afternoon inside the area of the Border Town where the people of Heiwa had set up residence. She was panting for breath, her face so red that steam could have been wafting off of her. Her current attire matched the standards of the women of Heiwa, loose garments of soft fur that looked more like underwear than actual clothing. Her naval and legs were entirely exposed while ankle and wrist bracelets lined with feathers were placed around her hands and feet. The women and men in Heiwa dressed in such a way to show off their toned physiques. As a tribe of Hunters, the healthier an individual appeared the more attractive they were to members of the opposite sex. This was the same for both the women and men. Shirou for instance was clothed only in a fur kilt, his upper body and lower legs exposed.

Akame and Shirou had been changed into the formal wear of the people of Heiwa to celebrate their victory through a traditional dance following which came the festivities.

Akame however, was unaccustomed to wearing so little clothing and beat back a hasty retreat like a startled cat bolting away from water. She felt no remorse leaving Shirou behind. He was still unconscious anyway and laid down to rest over Selka's lap while the other women of Heiwa looked at him curiously. Of particular note, Selka spent most of the entire celebration trying to shoo and hiss away her fellow peers from Shirou, much like a wild-cat guarding their cubs.

Akame didn't care at the moment. Instead, her expression darkened when she couldn't find her original clothing and realized she'd have to continue wearing her current attire. Rather than panic, she did the next best thing and 'borrowed' a random coat that was left hanging to dry on line of wire outside the house of an individual. She promptly left thereafter with a particular destination in mind.

Don't get her wrong. Just because she had helped to defend the Border Town didn't mean that she'd forgotten her original assignment. She had been within the Border Town for several days, reaching almost two weeks in total. As a professional assassin, she'd long since found her target in the given time-frame.

Her feet carried her forward, not a sound to be heard as she displaced the gravel beneath her which soon became a fine sand the closer that she came to her destination. She was heading towards the banks of a small yet tranquil lake that the residents of the Border Town primarily drew their fresh water from. It was also the source of their fish and dried goods which were salted and left to dry in the heat of the sun.

The lake shore was lined with many racks belonging to different fishermen who'd secure their catch and leave them out for the Border Towns administrative to collect. Food was scarce the further away from the Empire's capital one lived at and the Border Town was no exception to this rule. The fish captured by fishermen were turned into the Border Town council where the food would be equally distributed to feed the hungry.

The fishermen gave their fish, and in return they received wheat and bread from the other occupants in the town. In times of hunger and famine, the best way to survive was not to stick by oneself, but to rely on a collective.

She'd seen the same system once before in her days living in the nations of Wakoku where she was once left stranded. Her eyes dimmed when she recalled the memory.

Too many good people in her life had died for reasons that she could hardly accept. That was why she could not stand how corrupt the world had become.

 _"Then do you not want to change it?"_ Najenda's words echoed in her mind. It was Najenda who had convinced her to defect from the Empire's Assassination unit which had forced her to be as cold-blooded as she currently was.

At the same time as she mulled over Najenda's words, so too did another set of words rise from within her. Words filled with a type of conviction that could sway the heart with their certainty.

_"It's not wrong to help others."_

_"People are only placed into their situations through circumstance. It doesn't mean that they can't change. You need only look at yourself."_

The grip she had over her sword tightened, still unable to comprehend how Shirou seemed to be able to so clearly see through her. He had only glanced once at both her, and the sword in her hand before he stared at her in what looked to be 'understanding,' and sympathy. It was like he _knew_ her experiences. No one had ever looked at her with such an expression, and yet still he had the ability to fully trust her.

There were many times where she could have struck him down with how careless he was being by daring to show his back towards a person he wasn't fully certain was friend or foe. Yet he'd done so anyway.

He did not possess Najenda's passive charisma or confident demeanor, but instead, what he had was something far different. He didn't fight for the reason of putting an end to the Empire's treachery, but for the sole cause of saving those in front of him. Trust, empathy, selflessness, he was a person who did not hesitate to put his life at stake for a group of people like Selka whom he did not even know prior.

Then what about her?

Even if he wasn't being direct about it, why did it appear as if he was trying to save her? To prove to her that the things that she'd once believed in her own ignorance could possibly be true?

The thought gave her pause, but she couldn't contemplate any longer. She'd spotted her target, Edwin Pollus, just slightly away from the lake's shore.

She maneuvered around the area, stopping only when her back was placed against a tree ten meters away. In a single motion, she lowered her center of gravity and discreetly tilted her head off to the side to observe the enemy's movements.

She froze moments after doing so.

"Hey baldy! That wasn't fair. You said you wouldn't move!" It was a familiar voice. One that she'd gotten used to hearing in her time observing Shirou in his home. "You didn't move against Anna but you moved for me? You're a cheater!"

She looked again, and sure enough, she spotted the tiny figures of Shirou's siblings glaring at Edwin Pollus who held a wooden sword lightly in his left hand. From the looks of the situation, Edwin Pollus was actually teaching Artus and Anna the way of the sword.

"I did not say I would not move, now did I?" Edwin countered, ignoring the way Artus insulted him. He was in fact nowhere near bald. Instead, he had a full head of hair which he had combed to the side to not interfere with his line of sight.

"B-But you didn't move for Anna," Artus stuttered as he complained, feeling wronged.

Both Artus and Anna had started out apprehensive of Edwin due to the way their father had once warned them to stay away from the man, but times had changed. They had found Edwin taking up the life of a fisherman by the lake and in their curiosity as children had approached him after ditching Elaine. To be fair, their first meeting had the two children poking Edwin with the two wooden swords Shirou had given them as gifts and it didn't lead to much else. It was only after the two kept coming that Edwin reigned himself to his fate.

"Is the fact that you got me to move not something to be proud of?" Edwin was patient. As a man that had served in the army, he would not be affected by a child's whining. Instead, without any further talk, he struck out with his wooden sword and forced both Artus and Anna to retreat while blocking.

There was no use for words in order for one to accumulate experience, especially when young.

The sound of swords clattering together was the only noise Akame could now hear where she remained hidden behind the tree. Inwardly, she was conflicted. This was her best chance to strike. No matter how she saw it, Edwin's interaction with Artus and Anna was dulling his sense of awareness. All it would take was a single cut and then she could flee and never return to the oddness that was the Border Town ever again.

However, she couldn't do it.

The strength she had in her arms slowly left her, leaving behind only a thumb to run over the pommel of her sword's hilt.

From the reports she had read and memorized, Edwin should have been a cold-blooded man who wouldn't hesitate to send someone to their deaths to complete a mission. What she was seeing instead was a cranky middle-aged individual who despite being annoyed took the time to teach and look after the children of his former general.

The man described in her intel had already 'died,' Akame was sure of it. This wasn't the same individual that she had been tasked to kill at all. Hard as it was to believe, Edwin Pollus had indeed changed, and the only person she could think of that could have been the cause, was Shirou. Someone that she herself was still confused in how to categorize.

Shirou was an individual that could change everything.

To him, there was no Empire or Revolutionary Army, only those that needed saving and a safe place to live. That was the Border Town. The settlement that existed on the edge where it was possible to avoid all conflict.

An image was gradually taking shape in her mind. The disappearance of Raiga and the Mountain Bandits, the sheer number of high-profile individuals in the town around her; the Empire had not dealt with them as the Minister had claimed, but had instead lost track of them.

She couldn't help but think that if the Empire and the other Nations could be just like the Border Town, then all conflicts would eventually end. The world did not need some treacherous Minister or ambitious revolutionists. It needed someone like Shirou who never put himself before others.

Before she even realized what had happened, she had left Edwin behind and had made her way back to a cave that she'd been occupying in her time within the Border Town. It was small, sparsely furnished, and possessed an earthly smell of granite. The only objects in the room were a bed roll that she'd used to sleep on, and the remains of a small fire she'd put out before leaving. She didn't bother with either of them and instead moved to empty the contents of her bag which she had left near the camp fire.

Numerous pieces of bound paper, ink, and writing utensils clattered against the hard ground.

They were the reports and letters that Akame should have been sending back to Najenda but had never been able to send. Most of them were piled in untidy stacks, with many lined with crinkles and creases from how hard she'd hesitated pondering over them.

_If it was him, he could do it._

_To change the way that the world worked. A place without lies._

Even though he didn't seem to have any ambition, even though all he wanted was to keep those in front of him safe, she could already picture the extent of what he'd do when others would eventually call out to him for help.

He would not hesitate to act.

She shut her eyes, her thumb unhooking the latch over her sheath.

The reports and observations that she'd made, she would not send them.

It wasn't that she didn't trust her comrades in Night Raid, but the fact that Night Raid was a faction under the Revolutionary Army made all the difference. Should the army discover Shirou's ability to create new Teigu or even that fact that he was a formidable Teigu user himself, then there was no way the Revolutionary Army would leave him alone.

It was simply too dangerous and not something that she wanted to see.

Najenda had convinced her to fight to change the corruption running rampant in the world, but Shirou had taught her what it meant to trust in others. At this moment, she chose to believe in a path that she never thought would ever work. To trust in his values that were once her own before she had changed.

Just as Edwin Pollus of the Army had 'died,' Akame of Night Raid had undergone a similar transformation.

In a flash of silver, the detailed documents before her were reduced to countless strips of paper that burned to ashes amidst the crackling of a freshly lit flame.

Najenda and the others would definitely come to find her, and when they did, she would do her best to convince them.

The hope that she'd found in a place where all hope seemed to be lost, was not something that she wished to give up on anymore.

She was no longer just Akame of Night Raid, but Akame of the Town at the Border, Calla.

A town named after a flower of new beginnings.


	8. Chapter 8

The town Calla was by far one of the strangest places Akame had ever seen or lived within. It was somewhat surreal if she was being honest, but in any case, one wouldn't be able to tell what she was truly thinking from just her facial expression alone.

That was a good thing.

Trying to understand the town and Shirou was too difficult for her to deal with in the first place without the added annoyance of looking dazed whenever Shirou or the townsfolk did something contradictory to her views of the world. She'd even learned that there was unspoken rule that Shirou was not allowed to discover the true capabilities of the townsfolk unless it was an emergency.

She digressed and shook her head, keeping silent while walking behind Shirou's back.

Her natural calm, and cold exterior expression was contrasted by the deep curiosity in her eyes that darted back and forth wherever she went.

She was not wearing a cloak of any kind, and was instead wearing a black sailor's uniform with a short skirt that reached just to her mid-thighs. A pair of combat boots were worn on her feet, and the cut of the boot reached just up to the top of her calves which were secured by thin leather straps.

_"For the time being, you can stay with me."_

She recalled the words that Shirou had spoken to her a day after the battle. She had just decided to stay in the town of Calla, but wasn't quite sure what role she should be playing as a new villager. She wasn't good at laundry, sewing, or taking care of children, but she did know how to hunt and use a sword, both of which in a peaceful day, wasn't really required in a town like Calla.

Calla had its own means of hunting food from a nearby lake, and a part of the town was already devoted towards agriculture for self-sustainment. It wasn't that her profession in hunting and swords wasn't in demand, but she wasn't exactly the most talkative individual. To register herself as a member of a hunting force, she'd have to talk with a woman named Elaine who she instinctively felt disliked her for reasons she did not know or bother with.

Talking with Elaine would have had been troublesome, so she didn't.

A day after the battle, Akame had secretly left the town of Calla and deposited carcases of animals at its doorstep in her own effort to contribute to village life. Happy as the townspeople were, Shirou was getting a headache from Elaine nagging him to get Akame to officially register as a Hunter in the village registry. As it would turn out, randomly leaving unclaimed food in front of the village was screwing up logistic distribution that Elaine had to handle as Calla's secretary and chief-of-affairs.

Shirou was forced to settle matters before a dispute broke out, leaving to the current situation where he ended up hiring Akame as a body guard to make use of her skills somewhere other than hunting.

Selka and the people of Heiwa were already handling the hunting anyway.

At the aftermath of the battle against the tribe from Hageishi, the people of Heiwa had decided to settle down in Calla while their clan leader woke up from his state of unconsciousness.

Turning to the distance, Akame watched as Selka whistled using her fingers in the distance and left with a group of Hunters into the forest of Danger Beasts.

Due to the 'Tiegu' Shirou had created before Akame's eyes, Selka and the others were able to contend with even some of the toughest Danger Beasts that the forest offered. The Hunted Beasts would then be processed before the left-over bones would be sent to Shirou to handle along with the corpses of the Mountain Shakers.

Left unsaid, the food problem Calla was facing was temporarily settled due to the enormous amount of meat that the town suddenly had access to. This was to say, that there was no real need for Selka and the others to hunt more, but they still did so with the reasoning of getting familiar with the terrain and keeping themselves in condition should the people of Hageshi return.

The feud between the waring clans in Wakoku was not something that would settle itself easily.

In regards to all the meat left out in the sun after the battle, it would all surely start to rot in a few days. Therefore, while Selka and the other Hunters went hunting, the rest of the townsfolk had been spending most of their time preserving all the meat that they could.

It resulted in a considerable number of rations.

The people of Calla would not be going hungry for a while, but what Shirou wanted to do was change 'for a while,' into 'forever.' To do such a thing, he needed to make Calla self-sustaining without just relying on hunting.

Agriculture was the key, and not simply on the small-time-level Calla was from before.

The introduction of the Mountain Shakers had presented an opportunity. In wake of the massive Danger Beast's attack, large sections of the forested region around Calla were flattened, exposing a vast open plain after all the debris was cleared.

It was the perfect farmland, but the problem, was as always, water.

Without water there would no life and no food. The reason Calla's agriculture could not grow large enough to sustain itself before was both because the source of water was too far away and the ground around Calla was mainly made out of stone rather than loose gravel. It made it hard to dig and irrigate to cultivate other plots of land, but not anymore.

Shirou was standing beside the wide lake that funneled in from a river upstream, his hands out in front of him while Akame scrutinized his actions.

Admittedly, she'd been fixated on finding out just what kind of 'Teigu' he possessed, but no amount of observation would be able to get her anywhere. More so with how inconsistent he was being.

At first, Akame had believed that his Teigu had to do with the creation of normal swords that could be sent out as projectiles, but then Mystic Codes appeared and ruined that assumption. Tiegu only had one type of power per weapon with a few having two or more, but there was never a Teigu as versatile as the one Shirou was displaying. The fact that Shirou had produced Teigu with various attributes only meant that perhaps she wasn't seeing things clearly yet.

Her eyes narrowed, but as if to overturn everything that she'd silently sorted out together in her mind, it was not a sword that Shirou decided to use.

"That's a shovel," she said blandly, a hint of frustration laced in her tone.

_What kind of Teigu was this?_

She really could not understand anymore.

Akame had been expecting Shirou to create some sort of new Teigu from out of the air, but what she saw instead was Shirou taking out a regular shovel from his backpack.

Without even waiting, she moved forward and inspected the shovel in Shirou's hands. Not finding anything unique about it, she felt an urge to pull at her hair. Obviously, she didn't due to her self control, but the way she was looking at Shirou made him realize that she was blaming him for messing with her.

"Yes, it's a shovel," Shirou replied back, missing the glower that appeared for an instant on Akame's face as he shifted his attention away.

It was as if her expression was saying that nothing made sense anymore. Especially when she watched Shirou mutter softly to himself and then proceed to pierce the metal scoop of the shovel directly through stone.

T-The hell? Akame's eyes dilated and for a moment, she thought that she was either dreaming or had eaten some hallucinogen from the mushrooms that she had foraged from the forest prior.

"That's not possible," she said in disbelief.

The reason the people of Calla could not expand their agricultural fields was because of the hard stone that surrounded the lake bed. Even sharpened steel would not be able to easily plough through such dense bedrock without bending or breaking.

 _This was definitely a normal shovel,_ Akame had made sure of it. Therefore, how?!

Without any hesitation, she took the shovel from Shirou's hands and imitated his action of shoveling the rock beneath her.

Shirou noted how dazed Akame looked as the shovel seemed to just sink into the stone without any resistance. The feeling was like digging into sand, and Akame shuddered just thinking how effective the shovel would be against heavy armour.

The way Akame looked at the shovel as she pulled it close to her face made it seem as if she wanted to break it out of spite. Her brow was twitching and her lips had thinned as she bit down on them.

"Teigu?" He could hear the sheer disbelief in her tone.

"Not quite." Shirou did not elaborate as he took back the shovel which he had Reinforced with magic. Now that he had an ample supply of Danger Beast bones to recover from, he was no longer as stingy when it came to his magecraft. "Just because something is strong does not mean it's a Teigu."

As if to explain further, Shirou shifted his hand and placed it on top of Akame's combat boots.

"Trace, on," he muttered while activating his reinforcement magic.

Akame stared at him and at her boots in confusion after he moved away from her.

"Your boot is definitely not a Teigu, correct?"

Akame nodded slowly. Her boots were standard issue, comfortable and efficient.

"Try cutting your boot with your sword."

She really didn't understand the purpose of Shirou's instructions, but she did so anyway, and when she did, her neutral expression finally broke.

Orange sparks illuminated her face as her blade's edge grated against the leather of her combat boots. The sound was reminiscent to striking plate armour and only a tiny scratch was left behind.

"…" Her mouth hung open, but no words came out.

She considered what Shirou just did and gradually pointed at the rest of her attire.

Shirou nodded.

"I can reinforce the rest of your clothes too," he admitted. "That doesn't make your clothing Teigu though."

Akame shut her mouth, and didn't say anything more, but inwardly, her mind was a complicated mess while she sorted out the powers that she was certain Shirou possessed.

He had the ability to create Teigu.

He had the ability to heal.

And now he also had the ability to reinforce.

With the things that she'd seen that Shirou was capable of, why did he not take up his swords and fight to make a difference? He was akin to a walking armoury, med bay, and smithy all in one. His sheer utility in any battlefield was beyond just useful.

"Why?" The word escaped passed her lips. "Why are you so strong yet not fight? I've already told you of what's happening in the Empire."

The question had been nagging at her since the moment she'd seen Shirou create such a massive sword to combat against the Mountain Shakers. That power didn't seem like it belonged to a single Human, but was instead something that belonged in legends.

Legends of…Magic.

Her eyes visibly widened at the thought, but she shook her head at the impossibility. Magic was said to exist in the world and had much to do with the Tiegu themselves, but there was no way that a wizard could exist in the present day and age. She tried to convince herself of this fact, but it was also true that Shirou had created new Teigu right in front of her eyes.

A vague suspicion was forming in her head, but she was more focused on the topic at hand.

Shirou paused after she had voiced her question to him. The shovel in his hand which he was using to manually create water channels, pausing for a moment before continuing.

The answer Akame got back was in the form of another question.

"Why fight and kill?"

Akame watched Shirou silently work, his digging pace prompting her to jog after him. She was waiting for an elaboration, but he didn't answer right away. There was a deep look that had manifested in his eyes, almost as if he was recalling a memory.

"No matter how strong someone may be, the amount of people that one can save on their own will always be limited," Shirou spoke softly, trails of dirt being left behind him as he worked. "You save and save and save, while in the end chasing after an unattainable ideal."

"You speak as if you've already tried," Akame's tone was flat.

Shirou did not answer, but his silence was enough.

Akame lowered her head.

"It's not wrong to save others, but what I had always wanted was to save everyone," Shirou admitted after a moment. The sun was shining down from over him, but he didn't seem the least bit phased by the heat. "I forcibly learned something at the end though by a woman who was too prideful to speak honestly."

Shirou thought back of Rin Tohsaka in his final days in his past life. The words that she had said to him were then repeated from out of his mouth. "If a single idiot can't carry the weight of saving everyone on his own, then what if that load was shared by one, or two, or more?"

It was only after Rin had spoken that he finally realized that she had been looking at him with an expression that said 'why hadn't you asked me or the others for help?'

Indeed.

What he could do on his own was limited, but how many people could have had been saved if he had taken another path? It was this question that caused him to change his approach in saving others in his new life.

Fighting and killing.

There were never any conflicts as simple as black and white. The more deaths, the more vicious the cycle becomes. Therefore, what if there didn't have to be deaths besides the necessary ones?

Shirou turned towards Akame and the two shared direct eye-contact. "It's not that I don't wish to make a difference, but because I already am," he said.

To protect those that were close to him, and one day extend his help out for everyone else in need, he first had to create a place without lies, deceit, and murder.

That was basis of the town of Calla; a dream his father in the new world had wanted to make real.

Akame digested what she'd just heard before looking off towards the distant town and its people smiling along the streets. It didn't matter what kind of person one was before entering Calla, they would all be treated the same.

There was no need to fight for a world of peace if it was already right here.

What mattered was protecting it until such a day it would grow and spreads out through the world.

It would be a different kind of revolution than the one planned by the Revolutionary Army. There was no guarantee that the leaders of the Revolutionary Army would not grow corrupt themselves. With Shirou and the town of Calla though, Akame was certain.

Her fingers curled up into her palms at the sudden revelation, the way she viewed the current conflict in the Empire shifting ever so slightly.

"There," Shirou dragged Akame's attention back to him as he rested over the shovel's handle.

The channel he'd dug all the way from the lake had now reached the empty plains of the battle against the people of Hageshi. Shirou's work was just about done, and he finished soon after he connected the path he dug up to the lake.

Water seeped into the dug-up channels and irrigated the once dry land, shifting the soil into a darker shade as deep crevices quickly filled to the brim. He'd call the rest of the townsfolk later to begin planting seeds for harvest.

"Akame," Shirou called.

She turned towards him. He was holding a spare shovel out to her while motioning towards all the other channels that still needed to be dug.

"Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help?" He grinned.

She looked at the shovel in Shirou's hand, and then towards the townsfolk who had formed a crowd to watch the forming waterway.

It was tranquil.

There was no death, no conspiracies, no burden weighing down on her.

It was almost as if there was nothing for her to think about other than living her life.

Wasn't that the kind of future that she'd always been fighting for?

She had been having doubts since resolving herself to stay within the town of Calla, but, but…

Gradually, she reached out her hand, and took the offered shovel, watching as Shirou nodded at her.

Perhaps those doubts would one day go away on their own.

The sound of two shovels digging through rock echoed for the rest of the afternoon.

* * *

Shirou knew from experience that trouble was something that came from the unexpected, but he wasn't counting on it occurring so soon.

Standing at the front of the wall of large swords that he'd created to defend against the people of Hageshi, he was staring at Selka and the other Hunters who could not meet his gaze.

Selka was fidgeting, her hands clasped together while she awkwardly shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

She had left on a hunt with her fellow Hunters in the morning and somehow returned not with captured prey, but with hundreds of other people. Some were dressed similarly to Selka while others wore varying attires that resembled a mix of western and eastern customs.

"I-I can explain," Selka stuttered at his approach, her head lowered.

She tried to form a reasonable explanation, but the moment she turned up to face him, and then looked at the sheer number of people that she had brought, her determination began to waver.

"I-It's like this," Selka began talking from the beginning.

She and the Hunters had just gone on a regular hunt when they had encountered refugees forced out of their homes due to the Civil Wars occurring between the nations of Wakoku. Selka had not been able to refuse them a safe place to stay simply because she was familiar with all of them.

In the same way that the people of Heiwa had been attacked and forced to flee, Heiwa's neighboring nations were subjected to the same fate.

Of the hundreds of people that Selka and the Hunters had brought, many of them were close friends from other nations.

"S-Sorry, I know I should have had asked first, but I couldn't get them to stop following," Selka looked particularly guilty. She knew that the people of Heiwa already owed a great favour to Shirou, and now she was only bringing him more trouble.

The shame of her actions caused Selka's cheeks to flush in embarrassment while the other Hunters could only cough into their hands at their inability to say 'No' to friends.

_I-I've brought dishonour to the family._

_K-Kill me! Kill me now!_

Selka's eyes kept shifting from Shirou to the ground, while inwardly berating herself, but contrary to her expectations, Shirou placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Good work,"

It was like she'd been visibly struck, her heart thundering violently within her chest as a warm expression was directed towards her. Her lips quivered ever so slightly, swirls forming in her eyes. Red was gradually climbing up her neck until it covered the entirety of her face in a crimson sheen. It felt like her face was burning. _I-I can't! I-It's too much, t-too close!_

"…ugh, agh," she couldn't get any proper words out and could only watch stiffly as Shirou let go of her shoulder to address the crowd.

The other Hunters around Selka watched Selka's reaction knowingly and inwardly cheered her on to take her future with her own hands. One of the Senior Hunters even went up to Selka and placed the claw of the fiercest hunted animal in her palms before patting her on the head.

"Work hard, daughter of chief Freesia," Selka's senior spoke reassuringly. "I sense strong babies in your future."

"S-Shut up!" Selka knocked her senior hunter over the head and darted away to find a hole to bury herself within in her fluster. If embarrassment was lethal, she'd have had died several times over already.

She was just thankful that Shirou was no longer paying as much attention to her at the moment otherwise if he'd heard what her senior hunter had said she might as well find herself a noose and end her misery.

The only one who raised a brow at Selka's actions was Akame who didn't quite understand what was going on with Selka in the first place.

Akame shrugged. It wasn't any of her business. What mattered was seeing how Shirou wanted to handle the new wave of migrants.

"You're all welcome to stay here."

As she had expected. Shirou went and didn't consider anything before agreeing to help others in need.

The way her lips quirked upwards was enough to reveal her amusement and solidify her belief in Shirou's character. When the others from Night Raid eventually came looking for her, they too should be able to see just what kind of person Shirou was. Maybe then she could avoid fighting against her former colleagues. She simply did not have the will to raise her sword against them.

Moving on though, it was in her job as a body guard to inform Shirou what he was getting himself into. Still, she had to wait for a better opportunity.

Right now, Shirou was currently getting mobbed by hundreds of thankful people who bowed to him in respect.

"For the time being, there's not enough housing within the town to accommodate all of you, so I'm going to have to ask you all to stay in the area just next to the town," Shirou explained slowly after extricating himself from the crowd. "I'll push for the construction of more houses as soon as possible, so please feel free to make yourselves at home. There should still be plenty of food to go around, moreover, we have a surplus of wood to use for building at the moment."

The wood came from all of the trees that were harvested from the battle against Hageshi.

After a busy two hours, Shirou finally managed to sort everything out, leaving the matter of organizing the new arrivals to Selka and the Hunters who were more familiar with everyone.

Finally left alone, Shirou stood atop the wall surrounding the town of Calla while deep in thought.

It was at this moment that Akame finally decided to speak.

"I'm not against taking in more people, but you do know what you're getting yourself into, right? Most of these people are from Wakoku, but I spotted a few from some of the surrounding villages in the area." Akame furrowed her brow before pointing outward with her sword in three different directions. "They came from there, there, and there."

Shirou's gaze followed wherever Akame directed, but he still didn't really react. "Does it matter?" He asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Akame seemed incredulous. "The land that the town of Calla is built on is actually part of a domain of a High Noble of the Empire. The villages I pointed out are from high-tax paying locations. Some of the refuges not of Wakoku may very well be fleeing tax payers, not that they can be blamed. The taxes are simply too high for most impoverished villages to pay off."

"Then all the more reason to shelter them. I thought I told you before, it's never wrong to help others."

Akame's brows twitched. She instinctively wished to call Shirou a fool, but what did that make her for choosing to side with such a fool?

An idiot, she decided, but nonetheless, the smile on her face revealed her true thoughts before she shook her head and schooled her features.

"The current Empire is unreasonable," she said ominously. "It simply doesn't matter if people already live in a certain plot of land. How land is distributed in the Empire is by circling an area on the map and laying claim to everything within the circle. Calla's land falls within the jurisdiction of a Noble named Berkin Sanders, and the man's reputation is far from good. He may not have had paid attention to Calla before because it was relatively isolated, but now that we've taken in so many people, he's bound to turn his attention us."

Calla's growth would surely attract the attention of the ruling land owner. Hell, it was already a miracle that Calla wasn't paid a visit to by Berkin Sanders yet despite how glaring the wall of steel Shirou had made was.

"Are you still willing to take the risk?" Akame was just asking to verify, but there really was no need.

Shirou's answer was straight forward.

"Calla is not like the Empire nor Wakoku," he said. "It will be its own kind of place, and all I have to do as its current leader, is defend it from harm. As I said before, if they come, then let them come."

He placed a hand behind his head and scratched his nose.

Akame felt like he wasn't taking the situation seriously enough. "Are you truly so confident?" She asked.

Yes. In fact, he actually was due to the sheer amount of Danger Beasts he now had in his possession. After all, Danger Beasts meant magical power, and magical power meant access to his personal armoury.

"The Empire and Revolutionary Army both have their own secrets and aces," he turned his gaze to stare in the direction of the distant capital of the Empire. "Whose to say that I don't have my own?"

For a moment, interface patterns flashed across his body, dying him in a pale blue light.

What Akame had just seen clearly wasn't a Teigu and she knew it, which only meant one thing.

The suspicion she'd been harbouring about Shirou must have had been true.

Magic.

A lost art of the world re-emerged once more in the hands of a man who she'd later realize could only have had been called a hero.

Magic to rend the earth asunder, the clouds parting at a moment's behest.

Walking natural disasters.

Super Class Danger Beasts in the guise of human form.

"W-Wizard," she muttered under her breath.

They were real.

Her shock only continued.

Shirou did not deny the title for it was the closest thing to the actual truth. Rather, he crossed his arms and turned his back in order to stare in the distance. "You wanted and fought for a world of peace," he spoke slowly, extending a hand outward and seeming to grab onto something illusory.

"One day, let me show it to you."

It was a promise that she would remember for a life time. The event that started it all.

A Wizard, an Assassin, a Town, and a beginning.

Kill the lies.

Kill the corruption.

Kill the deceit.

One final contract. One Final Target.

Fate: Kill

* * *

The Empire was not a place for the innocent. It was a den of debauchery, murder, filth, and scum that only the worst of people could prosper and thrive within. This was to say, that most Nobles currently in power were such people. Not like it mattered to them in any way.

Berkin Sanders was not a man who cared about what others thought of him to begin with. He'd participated in the Empire's Civil War and had accumulated merit points to elevate himself to his current position using the bodies of his colleagues as stepping stones.

He was a sly bastard of an individual. He had not actively fought in the Civil War but had instead lied in wait to strike at his own comrades, killing them and plundering their kills to further his own status.

Berkin didn't care in the slightest. He got fame, wealth, and everything that he had ever wanted. So, what if he trampled on others to get to where he was in life? Wasn't it always about survival of the fittest or pursuing one's own happiness?

Yes, he truly was a sick bastard, but it didn't change the fact that he was a person in a high position of power in the Empire.

This was the whole reason he was being used.

The hired 'mercenary' that travelled on a horse besides Berkin's personal carriage retched at the thought of even being associated with the man, but Berkin's still had his uses before she would kill him.

News had been spreading along recently about a mega settlement that all the smaller villages in the area were flocking towards. They called the settlement Calla, a place with abundant food and enough land to house several thousands of residents.

More than anything, it was the last place that the mercenary's colleague was known to have had entered.

The mercenary released a breath and eased the grip she had on the reigns of her horse, prompting it to stop as a sudden gust of wind pushed back her hood. A head of long blond hair was revealed along with a mature face with high-cheek bones and a sleek jawline. The rest of her body and attire was kept hidden beneath a cloak to maintain secrecy.

Her name was Leone, another member of the Revolutionary Army's Assassination Faction, Night Raid.

She was one of Night Raid's oldest members and excelled at gathering information and possessing quick and practical judgement.

She was sent by Najenda to verify Akame's status after nearly two months without any sort of contact whatsoever.

Leone could have had gone and investigated on her own, but she took the opportunity to alert Berkin Sanders of the rumours surrounding Calla to prompt the man into action. Berkin's greed would drive the man to personally visit Calla in order to enforce his tax rates on a town within the jurisdiction of his land.

It was the perfect opportunity for Leone to also decide the validity of Berkin's as a target for Night Raid. The man had been allegedly accused by a citizen of the Empire to have stolen, raped, then sold away the wives of many newly weds in the capital for money and pleasure.

As it would turn out, Leone's impression of Berkin was far from pleasant.

The validity of the citizen's allegation appeared to be all but true at this point.

Night Raid would definitely take the contract against Berkin, but for now, Leone was more focused on the matter at hand.

Right before her eyes, what appeared to be an imposing military wall came in view. It was humongous, scaling over thirty-feet high and blocking all sights of the town of Calla within.

T-This was supposed to be a town?

Leone could hardly believe it. Her neck inclined upwards as she tried to see the very top of the wall and assess if it was possible for her to climb it.

Different from Leone, Berkin was at a loss.

"Y-You, mercenary, go and investigate!"

Berkin sounded anxious, he couldn't be blamed though. If those really were military walls, then there would surely be armed sentries nearby. Berkin had only been expecting to flaunt his power before a defenceless little town and not a place that was heavily fortified. He simply did not bring enough guards to do such a thing. All he had with him currently was a small platoon of infantry that was no more than a couple dozen individuals including Leone.

"Hurry and go, then report back to me," Berkin ordered Leone, simultaneously gesturing for his carriage to turn around to reach a safer distance away.

Coward.

Leone scoffed at Berkin's actions, but said nothing. It was clear that whether she went or not, Berkin's would be heading back to his castle to prepare a larger force to accompany him.

She was just being sent out as useful scout. In fact, Berkin was probably hoping that she'd get herself killed so that he wouldn't have to pay her.

Still, she was fine with the arrangement.

There were some things that she could only do while alone.

She gave Berkin a nod and promptly left in the direction of the high steel wall with a hint of weariness.

Dismounting from her horse, she decided to proceed further ahead on foot.

Horses could hardly muffle their steps, but she was a trained assassin. No matter how fast she moved, there was not a sound or a trace left of her footprints. She was a professional. By distributing the weight of her body not just on the soles of her feet, but onto her toes as well, she mitigated the noise of her running.

A forest surrounded the entire area around the wall, and Leone became quickly aware that she wasn't alone while she ran forward.

She dug her heels into the ground and immediately stopped to hide.

Her ears were perked up and her pupils were darting from left to right before zoning in on the direction that she could hear fighting coming from.

Fighting was common for animals within a forest, but the sounds that she was hearing were not those made by beasts, but by prey and hunter.

She sucked in a breath, and it was suddenly as if her entire presence disappeared, melding in with nature as if accustomed to the habits of a wild predator.

It didn't take long before she stalked her way to see just what was happening and the first thing to enter her sights was the form of a Danger Beast in its death throws.

Her expression grew somber, her breath hitching. It wasn't the sight of the Danger Beast dying that shocked her so greatly, no, instead it was because of the Danger Beast's attackers.

They all wore attire that consisted only of thick waist cloths aside from the one woman in the group who had leather bindings around her chest. The group was interesting to look at as a whole, but what made the whole situation hard for Leone to swallow were the weapons that each Hunter in front of her were using.

Hard as it was for her to believe, t-they all appeared to be Tiegu.

One spurted out columns of flame, while another created spouts of pressurized water. Each and every single weapon that the Hunters used had a different ability.

The only woman in the group used a combination of daggers and a short bow latched onto her waist that made quick work of the Danger Beast as the weapons easily penetrated through its armoured hide.

Leone dared not make a noise while watching the Hunters before her tie up the Danger Beast's carcass and haul it towards the direction of the large walls. To make the situation worse, Leone carefully noted that the people in front of her were abnormal monsters. Just one of them had the power to lift the dead Danger Beast with one arm, even the woman in the group seemed to have no trouble performing the task.

High physical capability coupled with the fact that each Hunter that Leone had seen possessed a Teigu, and that was basically an elite force that not even the Empire could underestimate.

What didn't make sense to Leone was that such a force would be part of a random town that she'd hardly heard of before.

S-Such a town actually existed in the middle of nowhere?

In that case, the reports that Akame had been sent with had probably been rendered useless.

Akame infiltrated a place like this?

It had already passed almost two months.

T-Then didn't that mean-!

The thought caused Leone to grimace with both grief and regret. Admittedly, even she would have trouble against such a force of enemies if caught, let alone just Akame.

_No NO. She's not dead. I refuse to believe it. Maybe she's just been forced into hiding._

Leone pulled the hood of her cloak further over her head while staring at the ominous walls in the distance. Even in the thick of the underbrush, the high walls produced a looming shadow that stretched on for miles.

Her intuition suddenly sent chills down her back as Leone scrutinized the walls further.

No, those weren't walls, the inside of her mouth dried. They almost looked like massive swords if anything else.

A warning of some kind.

A flock of crows flew into the air, their caws echoing in her ears.

Leone gritted her teeth and pressed onward, her worry finally evident on her face.

_Akame, what happened to you?_


	9. Chapter 9

Investigation and information were key to any kind of reconnaissance. Anxious as Leone was to verify the state of her friend and colleague, her years of experience forced her to truly consider her plan of action.

Pulling her hood further down over her face, she obscured her facial features further while deciding to temporarily make a retreat.

She left in the same direction that she had came.

She wasn't worried about Berkins waiting for her because it was more likely that the man had already fled and thought of her as dead. It was clear that the man hadn't wanted to pay her, nor did he seem the type to personally investigate a fortified location.

Expectedly, she arrived back to a deserted camp.

Her horse though was still around, tethered around a sturdy tree with a chain rather than a rope. It was a good call on Leone's part. Walking up to her horse, she ran a finger over the chain links and clicked her tongue thoughtfully. She could see signs of tampering from the grating of a sword over the metal, but as if the vandal had grown frustrated, the signs soon disappeared altogether.

It was likely that Berkins had ordered for the procurement of anything valuable before leaving, and that included her horse. Fortunately, she had thought ahead.

Of the baggage that had previously been on her horse, all that was left were empty sacks unskillfully torn open when some idiot was unable to undo a knot.

Disregarding the empty sacks on her horse, she went directly to a spot just a few feet away from where she'd tied the tether. The dirt there was of lighter coloration than the surrounding gravel, and that was simply because she'd hastily dug up the location to bury her actual belongings.

Sifting through the supplies she carried on her person, she pulled out a retractable trowel. It was a necessity for travelling out in the wilderness. Out in the open, food would spoil under direct sunlight. Wrapping food and up and leaving it buried beneath the ground was a natural method of preservation. In any case, she didn't just bury her provisions.

She absently wiped a small sheen of sweat from her brows with the back of her hand. In front of her was a hole that was around a meter deep, and at the center were two moderately sized pouches.

One of the pouches contained food, while the other was the one that she prioritized.

Wasting no more time, she directly picked up both pouches, stored the food away, and began untethering her horse before mounting it.

Pulling on the reins, she urged her mount into a slow trot while skimming through the contents of her second pouch. It contained all the information that she'd collected about the area in the past few days, and even had the mission details of her current assignment.

The paper soon began to crumple in her hands.

 _Bastards._ She gritted her teeth while looking over and over again at the intelligence reports from the Revolutionary Army detailed over five months ago.

'Threat level: Neutral. No signs of harmful dangers. Only a single obscure settlement. Remote and backwater. No cause for concern.'

A map had been included in the reports and it showed no signs whatsoever of a massive wall of steel in the vicinity. Moreover, she couldn't see anything close to a settlement which meant that it had to have had been located on the opposite side of the wall.

She shuddered and tightly closed her eyes for a moment.

If she went in unprepared, what were her chances of both finding Akame and getting out?

None.

All of those hunters that she'd seen, carried a Teigu. What's worse was that she couldn't verify if the Teigu's were limited solely to those hunters.

When hunting, it was never a viable strategy to hunt in large groups. It attracted the attention of animals and there was no getting away from leaving traces behind, prompting Danger Beasts to grow cautious.

Not all Danger Beasts or animals were mindless. The trails left behind, and the scent of blood in the air would be clear warnings to them of some kind of danger.

Of all the hunting groups Leone had ever seen in her life, few were comprised of all of a country or town's strongest warriors. Which meant to say, that there was a likely chance that there were far more people with Teigu behind those walls than she was comfortable about assuming.

She swallowed audibly, but maintained a tense vigilance of her surroundings.

The first thing that she needed to do was get some sort of idea about what she was facing, and for that, at least she still had something to rely on.

The information that she'd deemed useless were the papers given to her by the scouts of the Revolutionary Army, however, that wasn't all that she had on hand.

Lubbock, another colleague of hers who'd grown similarly worried about Akame's situation had worked overtime to procure logistic and trade reports regarding the movement of people and commodities throughout the area.

He had nothing substantial in regards to the Town of Calla that was stationed directly behind the steel walls, but everything else, Lubbock had been able to accurately detail.

Just because one had no information of a location did not mean that it was impossible to not get a basic understanding.

Her eyes thoroughly skimmed the contents of Lubbock's investigation and soon narrowed before she folded the papers away and tucked them into an inner pocket in her cloak.

Food.

People.

Resources.

Those were the three words and main emphasis of scrutinization in Lubbock's analysis.

Two months prior, the amount of food in the lands surrounding the steel wall suffered an advanced drought that spread everywhere. The other villages several hundreds of miles away from the capital of the Empire were in a state of crippling famine. People were dying of starvation, and even those with money could not find enough to eat.

This led to a simple conclusion.

Mass migrations, the movements of people as a result of the dire circumstances.

People from all kinds of trades and professions would leave their homes and look for work elsewhere to support their families and friends. Warriors, mercenaries, tradesmen, it didn't matter what sort of profession an individual possessed, it was literal movement of human resources.

Leone had already seen many similar cases throughout the Empire, but almost all of them ended up with remote or isolated villages sending young folk to the Empire's Capital for work. Naturally, the villages suffering from famine in the area around the steel walls should have had a similar conclusion, but everything was different.

In the report that Lubbock had made, there was evidently, a glaring 'hole' in the space where villages should have had been sending the Empire cheap labour. This 'hole' stretched across the entirety of the southern region near the borders of Wakoku.

To put the image into perspective, consider a pie in a circular tin with a triangular piece cut out leading towards the center. The centre represents the 'Empire' while the remaining pieces of 'pie' represent the youths that the outside villages sent for work into the Capital. The missing triangular piece of the pie represents the oddity of the region around the steel walls.

If these people that were looking for work did not go to the Empire as a means to save their villages and towns, then where did they go?

A hint of trepidation began to well up from within her.

She stared at the steel walls just over the horizon in a daze.

Just what exactly did Akame get herself into?

Above all, Leone desperately wanted to make sure that Akame was safe. In her line of work, it was hard to determine when a simple 'goodbye' or 'take care' would be the last words one would say to a friend.

Hopefully that wasn't the case.

She didn't want to accept it.

Not Akame. She was too strong to just be written off as dead.

Leone thought deeply into the single warning that Lubbock had given her in his analysis.

' _Don't be reckless. I've seen similar patterns to this before.'_

Indeed. Assuming that the missing youth sent from villages in the southern region were truly migrating toward the town located behind the steel walls, then that could only mean that Calla had enough food to support a large population.

Large populations meant the gathering of resources, skills, and talents. It also meant expansion.

Yet what could all this mean?

The Empire was already caught up in a Civil War against the Revolutionary Army much like the states of Wakoku. It was like a third power was suddenly rising from out of nowhere.

The thought caught her to stiffen, but she couldn't just base everything on assumption alone. She needed facts and evidence, something that she would later realize wasn't exactly difficult to obtain.

She forcibly stopped the trotting of her horse.

In front of her was a moderate-sized group of people equipped with varying states of luggage. Some were in rags, while others were slightly better off, carrying with them spare feather pillows and daily necessities.

She silently assessed the group and came to the stunning conclusion that they were migrants.

Judging from the direction that they were walking towards; they were heading directly to those ominous steel walls in the distance.

She pursed her lips almost subconsciously.

She understood that what existed right in front of her was a chance to garner information, but was it worth the risk? What if those hunters were acquainted with these people?

Rationally speaking though, it was unlikely. If they were truly just migrants and vagabonds pursing a better life, then it was surely their first time in the location.

Now came the bigger question, just what motivated them to move towards the steel walls?

The time to act had come.

Composing herself, she cut off the restraints of her horse and set it free into the wild. She had considered tethering it again, but she didn't know how long she'd be gone and she didn't want to starve the poor animal.

Urgent matters dealt with; Leone undid the knot that secured her cloak over her shoulders. If she wanted to blend in and get information from the migrants, then keeping her appearance concealed was counter productive. Not to mention, that she'd probably stand out.

With the bindings unfastened, her cloak gradually slid down form her shoulders, reveling her appearance beneath.

She was a beauty of a woman, with mid-length sunshine bright yellow hair that resembled something of mane in its sheer density. Most of it was combed to fall just behind her head, but her bangs fell lower on either side of her face. Her pants were of a baggy white with the waist area left completely open to reveal a black streamlined sports bloomer. Her torso itself was hardly concealed. Only a simple band of cloth was used to support her ample bosom, and even then, it looked like it was under heavy strain. Her naval region was left entirely exposed, while arm warmers attached to gold coloured armlets were placed around her biceps.

She looked nothing like an average Assassin, but that in itself may have had been part of the disguise.

She'd infiltrate, investigate, then send a report depending on the situation. Perhaps she'd call in some more allies.

She soon put on the most unassuming smile that she could muster, and swiftly made her way towards the group of travelers.

"Hello!" She called out cheerfully upon being sighted.

Rather than be cautious of her, the people showed no signs of hostility or suspicion. Instead, they smiled in return almost as if they weren't in the middle of a food crisis.

"Ah, here comes another one," an old man spoke up with a grin. He was smoking on a lit pipe which he held by his mouth using his teeth. "You're probably going to ask to join in, aren't you? Well go ahead, we all welcome you."

Leone closed her mouth in stupefaction.

W-What in the world was going on?

Crime rates were rampant throughout the Empire which meant that most travelers were weary of others. In this time of crisis and drought, this was the likeliest time to have a run-in with bandits or thieves.

Why didn't they show even a little bit of doubt?

The situation felt disconcerting, but at the very least, it moved along in the direction of her plans.

Whistling to herself, she moved away form the old man that had spoken to her, and looked for a younger target to converse with. A man would probably be the easiest, but the fact that she had to stay covert in this operation meant that she couldn't just swindle the man then run away with the information that she needed.

What she was looking to do was to both gather information pre-emptively from the convoy of migrants, and then camouflage with the migrants to gain access passed the steel walls.

With that in mind, she soon decided on a better target.

A woman who was travelling on her own, and didn't seem too cautious of conversation. From attire, she was probably one of the better off people from the villages around the steel walls. Still, no matter how well off one was, without food, commodities were worth nothing.

"Sorry if my question's a little sudden, but what exactly is going on here?" Leone probed lightly as soon as she got the woman's attention. She come off as open and carefree as this was the best tactic when conversing with a stranger.

"Oh, you must not have heard yet," the woman was very responsive, a hand pulling back a lock of hair which had grown damp and stuck to her forehead because of sweat. "The recent famine has been hard on everyone in the area, but there's been word that shelter could be found behind the steel walls."

"Shelter?" Leone was somewhat baffled. "Even if they provide shelter, food is what's important right now."

"Exactly!" The woman readily agreed. "If not for a shortage of food in my home village, I would not have had taken the time to come. Anyway, the rumours are that there's an absurd amount of food in the village behind the steel walls because of some massive Danger Beasts providing plenty of meat. Moreover, the people there are said to be exceedingly kind and accepting of other people's circumstances."

"Oh? Do you mind elaborating?" Leone was starting to grow curious. "From how ominous those steel walls look, I though they were some sort of military fortification?"

The woman shrugged as if saying 'how could I know when I've never been there?'

It was a fair point, but Leone didn't exactly have anything to lose by asking.

A moment later, the woman gathered her thoughts and responded.

"My friend sent me a letter revealing her intentions to permanently live in the town called Calla inside if she passes the application test. I trust my friend's judgement, so therefore, it must be a good place. She even sent me this strange white bar thing that she called 'soap,' but I have no idea how to use it even though my friend said it's essential to beauty."

Saying that, the woman creased her brows and fell into deep thought.

Leone herself felt like pulling her hair out.

The only useful information that she'd gleamed from the woman was that the town of Calla was providing aid to all its neighboring towns and villages. More than that, the fact that Calla was providing aid meant that it was definitely being unaffected by the famine and was in a state of prosperity to the point that something like 'soap' could be sent around.

"Do none of you worry about this being any kind of trick," she crossed her arms beneath her chest and began to frown. A rumour that was too good to believe in was almost always false.

Still, Leone didn't think that the woman would be so affected by her words.

The woman's gaze suddenly sharpened.

"We know," she spoke solemnly. "None of us here are fools, but anything is better than the capital. None of the villagers ever come back from there. Hard as it is to believe in the rumours of this town called Calla, its better than sinking into despair as the pangs of hunger slowly eat you alive. Either that, or you fall into depravity and commit the sin of harming those around you. None of us wish to be forced into that kind of outcome."

The woman straightened her back and adamantly looked ahead, doubts and fears unable to be seen.

For a moment, Leone was taken aback.

"My friend is there. She assured me over and over again to come. I have hope." She motioned towards the rest of the people in the group. " _We_ have hope. So therefore, we press onward. Isn't that the same with you?"

_'Isn't that the same with you?'_

The words echoed in Leone's head, her gaze shifting downward. It wasn't as if she couldn't understand what these people were feeling. She too was once the same. Only that what she found at the end of her 'hope' was not salvation.

_'What did it matter if a child from the slums died anyway?'_

Her lips subconsciously began to quiver.

In some deeper part of herself, she was strongly disagreeing with what the woman had said. After all, if hope truly had the ability to change her life and the world for the better, then why hadn't she been saved when she had needed it the most? No, it didn't even matter about her! Why had the rest been unable to be saved?

Her hands balled into fists so tightly that her nails were starting to dig into her skin, however, the cheerful expression on Leone's face hardly shifted.

"Yeah, yeah I guess you're right," she laughed awkwardly to alleviate the odd tension in the air.

The woman just shrugged and thought nothing much of it, but as soon as the woman turned away, Leone's face abruptly blanked before resuming a natural smile.

She called out to other people in the group, but roughly got the same information that she'd obtained from the woman already.

Hope.

Eagerness.

Anticipation.

Everyone was of the same mind.

Leone was still skeptical. Expectation was bound to be met with disappointment. That was how this shitty world worked.

Soon enough, the entrance of the steel walls came within line of sight.

Leone inwardly calmed herself, and made sure that nothing about her looked suspicious. She was a member of Night Raid that wasn't currently depicted on the wanted posters so as long as she was careful, no one should be cautious of her.

There were guards of some sort stationed at a checkpoint located in front of the entrance of the steel walls.

People were already line up at the front, and besides getting asked a couple questions, they were directly allowed in without any other hassle. For her part, Leone was a hundred percent confident that the guards would have had demanded an entry fee, but the reality before her was utterly different.

Leone blinked in sheer disbelief.

What kind of inspection process was this? Wasn't this just free entry?

Either the guards were fully confident in apprehending suspicious individuals, or they were just fools.

Leone thought it was the latter option. How could anyone so naïve be able to live in this world of corruption. She could hardly believe what she was seeing, but for now, it suited her plans just perfectly. She passed the checkpoint screening area and entered the inner confines of the steel wall.

A dirt road had been built leading to what looked like a prospering town in the distance.

Homes were built on either side of the roads, and even from where she was standing, Leone could see an extensive irrigation system that was allowing the agriculture of the fields around her to blossom. It was no wonder that this place wasn't suffering from drought. There was a natural river that was supplying water.

Leone's eyes soon narrowed while staring at the river.

It wasn't easy to notice, but most of the ground around the river was made form a solid type of bedrock. How was it that the bedrock appeared to have had been dug up like regular soil?

It was a mystery in her mind, but perhaps it had something to do with the Teigus that she'd seen in the Hunters possessions.

Regardless, she'd just verified that the town of Calla did indeed exist behind the steel walls, which meant to say that Akame had to be around here somewhere.

Akame last report mentioned that she'd successfully established a hide-out near Calla. Knowing Akame, it would have to be in a hidden location without a high population. Unfortunately, no matter where Leone looked, most of the trees and uninhabited areas within the steel walls had been plowed and made flat to allow for the building of new homes.

Even if Akame did make a hide out, it was probably discovered by now.

The target of Leone's search would have to be elsewhere. In the meantime, she couldn't stay with the migrant group for any longer. It was time to get to work.

Moving away from the group that she'd travelled with; she entered the town of Calla and immediately began searching for a certain type of establishment. It was a place to drink alcohol and laugh the day's stress away. It was also a place where the most information could be acquired from a loose tongue.

This establishment was naturally a bar. Low and behold, she soon found one such establishment, took a seat, and ordered a drink by the counter.

She sat be herself, a hand idly swirling the mug of cold beer in her grip.

Her ears perked now and again and she acted as if she was getting drunk, but in reality, she was just focusing.

The best part about a bar, was that she didn't have to initiate conversation to get any information. Sometimes, the best strategy was to just listen.

The two talking by the far corner for example had nothing but praise for Calla. Apparently the Young Lord of this town had personally hunted a Danger Beast for the hungry citizens of other towns to eats.

Personally, Leone thought was bullshit.

Her eyes were half-lidded as she glugged down another gulp of beer.

The town is great.

The town is wonderful.

A true haven.

Yada-yada, all those words were the flapping of lips with no credibility. She'd have to see it first to believe, and more than that, her doubts were too heavy for her to be convinced so easily.

There was no such person who would go out of their way to help out a stranger. They didn't exist. Not in the world that she'd grown used to living within.

She smacked her mug of beer on the counter while wiping her lips with the back of her hand.

What were they playing at here? She was convinced that the people who were full of praise for the town were paid actors utilized to lower the guards of the new migrants. She wouldn't be fooled by them.

Surely if she waited long enough, they'd show their true colours.

Regardless, none of them spoke anything of Night Raid's famous assassin Akame getting apprehended in town. That in itself was a good sign. If Akame really was caught, there was no way that the civilians wouldn't at least gossip about the topic. That was simply how notorious Akame's reputation was.

"A refill!" She called out drunkenly to the bar tender.

The bar tender glanced at her before opening a brand-new keg and pouring the beer to the brim of her mug. "Now that's what I'm talking about," she complimented with a grin.

She took the mug into her hand, placed her lips over the edge, and downed the whole drink in go.

Placing her arms in front of her, she then pretended to slowly pass out while leaning her forehead on the groove of her bent elbow.

Now, no matter how long she stayed in the bar, there shouldn't be anyone suspicious of her.

Ten minutes passed, then thirty by the time someone of importance seemed to walk in.

Leone's senses heightened as she strained her ears to listen, a single eye subtly opening to inspect the bar's newest patrons. She momentarily stilled in surprise.

It was the group of hunters from before.

"C'mon Selka, one drink," The hunter nearest to the girl named Selka placed a hand over Selka's shoulder and led her to a place near the back of the bar.

"I told you, I don't drink. Father says it dampens the senses." Leone could hear Selka's flat response.

"Even after we caught such a big Danger Beast? It's time to celebrate!" The hunter continued to insist.

"Waiter, I'd like to order milk," Selka completely ignored the words of the other hunter, but apparently grew flustered at another Hunter's response.

"What if Shirou ever asked you out for a drink and you couldn't even down a single mug?"

"…"

Hmm, interesting.

Leone peaked a single eye open to see the woman named Selka in a fluster. She tried to look tough and indifferent on the surface, but she was surprisingly easy to goad. Her eyes kept shifting between decisiveness and indecisiveness until her resistance finally crumbled.

"O-One cup then, only one!"

"That's the spirit, you'll make a fine woman in the future. Your future husband would be honoured to have you!" The other hunters immediately showered Selka in praise.

"Y-You really think so? I'm not like the other girls who look far prettier than me, a-and my abs might be too toned. What if he likes softer and frailer girls? H-Hypothetically I mean. O-Obviously its not me who wants to know, but another friend of mine."

This woman, did she not understand how to hide her thoughts?

Leone's lips nearly perked up in amusement. Fortunately, she was able to restrain herself lest she break her current camouflage.

"This and that are different questions, aren't they Selka? Shouldn't you first beat that woman whose been staying near Shirou before helping out this friend of yours?" Another Hunter spoke up heartily.

Selka suddenly grew resolved at the reminder. "I'll beat her next time. I was just careless in the last duel."

"Careful now, that's overconfidence. In the future if you end up unable to beat her and she decides to take Shirou for herself, what would your friend do?"

Selka crossed her arms solemnly.

"I'll listen to the other girl's advice and tell my friend to directly 'bed him.' As I'm not exactly sure what that means because my father refused to tell me, I'll have to rely on you guys to help-Hey why did you all turn away from me? A-Are you actually laughing at such a serious topic? Stop! At least tell me what I said wrong!"

Leone felt her chest heave up and down but she had to endure. She had to hold back the laughter threatening to spill out of her mouth. This Selka girl really was one-of-a-kind.

"Sure, thing milady," the other hunters quickly composed themselves under Selka's glare. "But before doing anything like 'bedding' we believe its better that you focus on your current objective. Oh, and do remember to be careful of that sword. She may be using the blunt end during your spars, but I heard that even one cut can be fatal."

That warning sounded awfully familiar.

Leone felt her senses heightening. This was a clue. A big one. A lead that she couldn't just let go of.

Selka nodded solemnly to her fellow hunters' words and remained silent for the rest of the time she stayed in the bar mostly because she got the sense that her fellow hunters were teasing her.

As for Leone, her eyes never once left Selka and the other Hunters.

Therefore, when Selka and the other Hunters stood up to leave, she decided to follow suit.

She promptly stood up and motioned towards the bar tender for her bill, but paused when the bar tender only smiled at her.

"How much do I need to pay?" She inquired in slight confusion.

"No need," the bar tender smiled kind-heartedly. It was an expression that had no sentiments of malice nor deceit, but was instead done out of thoughtfulness for the sake of others. "It's been hard on many because of the recent famine so this bar and many other establishments in town temporarily don't have a set price for out products. We simply ask that you pay what you can. Even if you give nothing, were already understanding of the situation."

What?

For a moment, Leone doubted if what she was hearing was real.

Pay what you can? What sort of concept was this?

Not only did it rely entirely on the charitability of the customer, but from a business perspective, it was ruinous unless one was able to make back the money put into an establishment.

Did people like this actually exist?

It was hard for her to swallow.

"You must be joking, seriously, how much was the beer so I can be on my way?" Leone spoke frankly, already pulling out a bag of coins by her waist. The sound of the coins jingling was enough to draw attention, but different from the capital, everyone around seemed disinterested. She felt like butterflies were forming in her stomach from how unused she was to the sudden change in world views.

The bar tender shook his head once more.

"It really is free," the man insisted. "The times are hard so please pay me what you will. Calla has more than enough resources to accommodate due to the Young Lord and the Townspeople's efforts."

The man was serious.

Leone didn't know what to make of it, other than just to react with a long silence.

_This kind of empathy._

Shadows briefly clouded her eyes over.

_This kind of place._

She was stunned. She couldn't form words nor find it within herself to try. In the end, all she got out was a single question. "Why?"

Why were the people that she'd experienced dealing with in the past so different from the people that she met in this town? Why was the contrast so big?

Her past was not something that she was very comfortable sharing with anyone. Deplorable and wretched were the only words that she could use to describe people then, and over the years, her opinion had hardly changed. So, stop.

Stop looking so earnest for a stranger's sake.

She couldn't keep eye-contact with the waiter and promptly turned her head to the side just as the man began to answer.

"It's not wrong to help others. Especially someone who shares a past occupation of mine." In that moment, the bar tender moved with a poise and experience that did not suit a common waiter, but a trained spy operative.

It caught Leone of guard, but before she could raise her alertness level, the man continued.

"You seem to be a person of many stories, much like myself and the others in this town, but let me be the first to inform you that none of what you 'were' or 'did' in the past matters here. 'Calla' is the flower of new beginnings." The man smiled good naturedly. "So, ease up a bit. No matter how trained you are, there's bound to be one or two people in this town that will be able to notice you. From one person whose worked in the same occupation before, take this as a tip, but natural is best."

Leone nodded stiffly, her eyes darting left and right and assessing the prospects of an escape, but there were far too many people.

"You aren't turning me in?" She stared at the waiter, her body tensing up in preparation to flee.

The bar tender simply shrugged with a sincere expression on his face. "Lies and deception, are you not sick of the words? Calla is different, and soon enough you'll understand for yourself. Maybe then I could offer to treat you to a drink, but for now, don't let me keep you."

He pointed to where Selka and the other hunters were just about to turn the farthest corner. "You wanted to follow them, didn't you? If you stay any longer, you'll lose sight of them."

"…" She didn't respond even though she knew that the waiter was right.

She moved to leave, and sure enough, the bar tender gave no signs of trying to stop or expose her. Inwardly, it was a heavy blow.

_This sort of place actually existed?_

That was the only thought in her mind, her lips pursing.

If, just _if_ it wasn't the Revolutionary Army that had found her, and she found this sort of place, what would she have had done?

She forcibly quelled her doubts. This simply wasn't the time.

If she was discovered this easily, then what did it mean for Akame?

Her senses returned to her. Even in her past while growing up in the slums of the Capital, she'd always been the one to take care of the other children around her. She was the older sister, and that was why she had a duty to keep those she held dear safe from harm.

Wasn't that why she had chosen to gain strength?

Enough. It was enough. She didn't want to talk to anyone else anymore.

Calla itself appeared to be a trap. She convinced herself of this reasoning.

I-It was too ideal. Too compassionate in a world where a man or a woman would sooner turn on their children rather than face a heavier burden.

Stop thinking about it.

Don't think about it.

Focus on the mission.

She drilled the three sentences into her head, and soon returned to a state of professionalism. Still, if one looked closely, one could see the traces of doubts, disbelief, and denial present within her eyes.

It was only made worse when she passingly verified the waiter's words out of spite to prove the man to be just another liar.

It was the wrong decision.

While following discreetly behind Selka and the other hunters, Leone could hear her teeth gritting together in her mouth while her mind basically just blanked. Anywhere that she looked on either side of the street, people were smiling, and genuinely interacting with one another. People bought food and supplies for little more than a single piece of copper, and even then, she noticed that the vendors didn't even bat an eye to the few who had nothing to give.

It was only when one was at the lowest point in their lives that they could see how the world truly was, and in this case, it was a far cry from the capital.

If everyone in the Empire had the personality of the people in Calla, then would there have had even been a Civil War or Revolutionary Army?

She grimaced, but still maintained her pace.

How many times had she just hoped in the past for a single person in the capital to come up to her and the other children in the slums and ask a simple 'are you okay' without any ulterior motives?

She would have had smiled in the past despite her circumstances and responded that life would eventually get better knowing that there was at least a person who cared. However, her expectations were never answered and were instead met by the hands of those who would abuse the people of the slums for sport.

It was disgusting.

Following behind Selka, Leone felt her shoulder's tremble as her attention heightened for a single instance.

"Are you okay?" A villager of Calla passed a destitute child on the street. One of the many children that had just arrived from the mid-sized caravan of migrants Leone had infiltrated with.

The child looked confused, but began sniffling when the man broke apart the bread he had in his hands and offered half.

"It's not much, but take this for now. Life's been hard right? But with the efforts of the Young Lord and the rest of the people in town, life will get better after we help each other out."

_No. Stop this._

For a moment, Leone subconsciously tried to block her ears, but she couldn't get rid of the scene that she'd just witnessed.

The urge to just start laughing bitterly nearly overwhelmed her.

She bit down on her lips and looked away.

Focus.

_Focus._

She put all the thoughts distracting her out of her mind.

If she had been so easily noticed, then Akame must have been seen too. In which case, Leone had to face the prospect that Akame might be in the midst of detainment. The people in Calla didn't seem as if they'd kill unless Akame killed one of their own first, but Akame would only attempt to kill her target. Therefore, Akame should be safe considering that Edwin was not a local of Calla and had been a person running from the Capital.

Thinking up to this point, Leone continued to maintain a safe following distance from Selka and the other hunters. As they were strong, they probably didn't just function as a group to hunt for food, but to enforce order as well. Something like a policing force. After all, other than the hunters, no one else Leone had seen carried something as imposing as a Teigu. Perhaps if she followed them, they'd lead her to some sort of detainment facility? Besides, she was interested in who this opponent that Selka wanted to beat was.

Time passed on at a slow crawl, and it was only after Leone got a good look at the people around her that she noticed a peculiarity.

The attire that Selka and the others wore didn't exactly match the fashion trends in the Empire.

This revelation gave Leone a jolt.

The tribes of Wakoku.

Following after Selka, Leone was led to a part of Calla that was inhabited by a stark diversity of people. Some were clearly locals of the Empire, while others wore exotic clothing and apparel, making it obvious that they were from elsewhere. Wakoku was the only answer, and judging from the unique differences in accessories, more than just a single tribe from the warring states of Wakoku had taken up residence in the town. Selka and the others for example were lightly dressed in hunted furs, showing off their toned bodies, while other people were entirely covered from head to toe.

In the end, just what was this place? More importantly, what was it trying to do?

The more Leone discovered of Calla, the more questions she inevitably had.

For someone as experienced as her, letting her guard down or getting distracted was almost impossible in any special assignment, but this time was different. She'd already been discovered, but her apprehender just let her go without any questions asked?

Ridiculous.

She was feeling out of her depth already, and coupled with the things that she'd seen in the town, she was soon caught in a daze while her legs just blindly carried her forward. Akame was her only objective and driving force, so for the time being, she needed to get herself together.

Now if only she hadn't bumped into a person by accident, she could have had saved herself the trouble of falling on top of him.

She groaned for a moment, and clicked her tongue in self reproach, but more than that, she suddenly felt an ill premonition.

That Selka girl that she'd been following; right now, that girl who had looked so innocent while being teased by her fellow hunters had an expression so cold that it was chilling. In fact, for the slightest of moments, a trace of killing intent violently exploded outwards before forcibly being quelled.

Selka was stiff, her lips thinned, and eyes narrowed so sharply that the other hunters around her took a step away. She didn't know it, but she was sulking.

Selka wasn't a woman that was easily angered or impulsive, but right now, she thought she finally understood the words of her mother before her mother had gotten married with her father.

' _It is not beasts that we should fear that take away our man's lives during a hunt, but the cunningness of other women instead.'_

Leone felt that she'd somehow stepped across a certain line that she shouldn't have. Selka may look sleek and frail, but this was the same girl that Leone had seen single-handedly lift up a Danger beast with a single arm.

Right now, that same girl was glaring with a blank face, and Leone was quick to understand why.

She'd heard the other Hunters in the bar teasing Selka about some boy that she liked but failed to be truthful about, and right now, Leone was accidently smothering some unfortunate lad beneath her with her breasts after falling on him.

Given the reaction Selka was giving her, Leone could hazard a guess as to whom she'd just bumped and tripped over.

She glanced down with her eyes, only to hear the muffled noise of a man suffocating between the groove of her breasts, arms flailing in an attempt to push her off, but oddly sensitive to just where he could get leverage on her. It would have had been cute at any other time for such a respectful man to exist, but right now, Leone could tell that Selka's gaze was growing more and more rigid.

That was the face of a person who was debating whether or not she should inflict harm.

Leone had bumped into a person in the middle of the street, making her the center of attention, made worse because Selka directly got involved.

Leone knew that she had to act fast.

"Sorry, sorry my mistake, I got lost and tripped was all," she pushed away from the person beneath her and raised her hands up in a placating gesture.

Looking down at the man she'd tripped over, he seemed to be someone of importance. The villagers around were clearly all respectful of him, and the people from Wakoku even went as far as to lower their heads and offer small gifts. She made quick note of this fact and considered interrogating the man for information later on regarding Akame's wherabouts. However, right now, she had to deal with the matter at hand.

The man she'd tripped over was slowly regaining colour to his face, but if anything, he didn't seem to hold a grudge of any kind.

"I'm alright, I'm alright," the man repeated sheepishly. "No need to worry about me."

"Shirou," Selka directly blocked Leone's line of sight.

For a second, Leone could have had sworn that she heard a growl near her ears.

Selka securitized Leone up and down before slowly nodding.

"You said you were lost?" The tone of Selka's voice was far different to when she'd called out Shirou's name.

_No wonder the Hunters teased her if she was this easy to read._

Leone's lip twitched, but she soon got her mind on track. "Yes," she admitted.

The expression on Selka's face loosened for a moment, before she eventually nodded. "Judging from your attire, you must be one of the people participating in the town garrison recruitment."

"Yes?" Leone didn't know what Selka was talking about and responded too quickly in her haste.

"Good, you seem strong." Selka was entirely relying on her intuition as a Hunter.

"Okay?" Leone tried to inch away with her feet, but before she even had a chance to do anything, Selka was already next to her and clasping her by the hand.

"We still have time to make it, so follow me." Selka was frank in her words and actions.

_W-Wait what?_

Selka directly began leading Leone away.

_Ah, wait no! This wasn't supposed to be happening!_

Leone tried to talk her way out of the situation, but it felt more like Selka was ignoring her out of pettiness. Smiling awkwardly, Leone could only resign herself to her fate. There was no way that she'd be able to act recklessly in Calla. There were just too many professionals around, and besides, she still hadn't found Akame yet.

Watching the two leave, a shadowed figure descended to stand by Shirou's side.

Shirou glanced up at the woman next to him.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"No." Saying that the woman stared back in the direction that Leone had left from and swallowed inaudibly.

Anxiousness.

Hesitation.

Doubt.

It was palpable, all of it summed up in only two words that could hardly be believed in.

"Nothing's wrong."


	10. Chapter 10

Information travelled fast.

Even without thorough or accurate reports, there was no way that either the Empire or the Revolutionary Army would fail to notice the emergence of a towering and sturdy steel wall within the borders of the country.

The problem lay in the fact that neither of the two forces were aware of how such a monumental landmark could have had been made while the other side was unaware.

Was it a part of the Revolutionary Army's forces? Or was it a faction of the Empire's?

Both of these questions had no answers simply because no one could verify.

Strictly speaking, the truth was hidden within the deceit.

Neither the Empire or the Revolutionary Army wanted to admit anything to one another and both were more inclined to disbelieve anything that the other side said. After all, other than the military resources of the Empire and the Revolutionary Army, there was no other power within the country that could construct such a large megastructure.

The Tribes of Wakoku themselves that bordered the Empire's dividing line were even more unlikely to provide funding for a steel wall when Wakoku itself was caught in civil strife.

With these options in mind, the only forces that could have had possibly built the steel walls were just the Empire and the Revolutionary Army alone.

Both sides came to the same assumption, and therefore, no matter how many times either side denied involvement on the matter, both remained skeptical and weary.

The civil war had been lasting for too long.

There was hardly anyone within the Empire who hadn't been influenced by the war's all-encompassing effects.

Corruption.

Famine.

Death.

That was how the Empire was, decaying from its past golden era with the death of the First Emperor.

There were too many things that needed to be done in order to save such a country, the first of which was to remove the filth that was pulling the strings behind the scenes. It wasn't the Child Emperor, but the Advisor by the Child Emperor's side, a man by the name of Honest.

Najenda flicked open the latch of a lighter, hesitated, then promptly closed it before shaking her head.

She was a pale-skinned woman with short silver hair that only reached up to her ears. She had been a reserved individual in the past as a former General of the Empire, but had now grown more hardened. Quick wits, and a keen eye for strategy was what made her stand out from the rest, but she wasn't exactly weak either.

She was a strong fighter. Strong enough that not many could be considered her equal in battle and this was considering the fact that her previous primary Teigu was a long-range weapon.

A pity then.

Looking at her now, she had lost both an eye and a right arm. Her arm itself was replaced by a steel prosthetic with differing functions to enable her to combat against enemies, but there was no replacing the vision of her eye. An eye patch was kept over it.

Her fighting capabilities had become severely crippled, drastically decreasing her overall strength to a little over forty percent of her prime.

Subsequently, she spent most of her days at the base camp as the Leader of the Assassination Group, Night Raid.

"Hmmm," she hummed to herself before grunting. "It doesn't make sense."

She sat up and slouched into the chair that she was sitting one while looking over the files on her desk, a sheen of sweat over her forehead. It had been hot lately, and it wasn't doing her any good that she remained adamant about wearing an entire black dress-suit. Her only saving grace from the heat, was by exposing a large portion of her cleavage behind the lacing of her inner garments. Even then, it hardly did much good.

Wiping the sweat of her brow, she continued frowning as her eye narrowed in consternation.

The experience that she had as a former General was warning her about some sort of danger, but about what kind, even she didn't know.

Should she pull Leone out?

She sighed before taking in a breath.

Both of the Empire and the Revolutionary Army have been sending in small teams of scouts towards the landmark of the steel wall.

She herself, as part of the Revolutionary Army was no exception.

Her superiors had asked her to officially send a reconnaissance group as well and she had only yet to do so simply because she'd already sent a capable individual to investigate months before the wall even existed.

Akame.

Despite how well Najenda thought of Akame's capabilities, after months of no contact, Najenda's confidence was wavering. It showed in the fact that she had scent Leone even before the official statement from the Revolutionary Army arrived ordering Night Raid to investigate the disturbance.

The only problem that was causing her to second guess herself was one glaring issue reported by the most recent infiltration attempts by the Revolutionary Army.

Of the total number of scouting parties that the Revolutionary Army had sent, hardly any returned, and even the survivors could not understand what had happened to them.

Many were rendered speechless, and the only real information that they were able to coax out was a single word that no one could take seriously.

Magic.

That superstitious power beyond common understanding.

It wasn't real. It couldn't be.

Although it was implied that all Teigu had been made with a kind of magic, there was no way that the manufacturing process could be verified. Besides, a few renowned blacksmiths from Wakoku were said to be able to create Teigu known as Meihou in the tongue of Wakoku.

Magic wasn't real.

At the very least, no one has been able to use such a thing in the Empire's recorded history other than the creators of the Teigu which only implied that they 'used' magic.

The situation was heavily disconcerting.

There wasn't much time to wait, and in the worst-case scenario, she had to prepare for the chance that even Leone might not be able to send back any reports to shed light on the situation.

For the first time in many years, Najenda was starting to feel out of her depth.

Something was going on beyond her level of understanding, and her intuition was warning her that a storm was brewing.

She shut her eyes, and leaned her cheek over the back of her hand.

Two weeks.

She tapped a finger absently over her desk, her expression growing somber.

_Don't you two dare die on me._

"Bulat," she called out. "Begin preparations."

* * *

Calla was always quiet in the early mornings. Aside from the patrols done by the Hunters, most of the people were generally asleep, and this made it the best time for Shirou to think.

Many changes had been happening rapidly in the town, rather, it would be more accurate to call it a growing community at this point. Migrants were coming from all over, and the population was starting to reach a point where expansion was necessary. Moreover, most of the migrants were people seeking refuge from famine or running away from wars and violence. Hardly any could contribute any material goods to Calla's economy, instead they were like an investment.

Many people of skilled jobs and trades work were among Calla's new residents. The problem was that they had no coin or food to speak of which in turn meant that the heavy burden was placed on Calla itself.

Shirou did not wish to turn away either, but the meat from the Danger Beasts was still a limited resource. Furthermore, the new farmlands he had helped till with Akame after setting up an irrigation system would not bear crop until the following spring.

Calla had already had trouble in regards to money and food even before the incident involving the people of Wakoku. It was still fine as it was now, since the spoils of battle were keeping everything afloat, but once funds and provisions begin to thin, problems were bound to occur.

He did not administer strict profiling of new migrants, and even when he was informed that a few had rather dubious origins, Elaine had assured him that taking them in would not be a problem. Yet how could it not be a problem?

The moment food and resources began to dry, crime rates and policy failures were bound to increase.

What he didn't know was that Calla was already a town with highly advanced personnel. Common thieves and thugs could not even be considered a threat at this point, and this was why Elaine couldn't help but scoff when he had brought up the issue.

As much trust as he had in Elaine, he still couldn't just do nothing though.

Food and resources were being solved by the recruitment of more Hunting teams led by the people of Heiwa which he quickly approved of to help last the year. Once the new farmland bore crops next spring, food itself would no longer be an issue.

And now came the most relevant problem.

Defence.

He was all too aware of how conspicuous the steel walls that surrounded Calla were. The Empire, Wakoku, and the Revolutionary Army would have to be fools not to notice. Given the brief summary of what Akame had told him of each major power, any one of them would jump at the chance to subjugate Calla and make it their own.

He couldn't allow that to happen.

Not only was Calla a veritable fortress, but the lands within it were fertile and could soon support a large population. What was even better for Wakoku and the Revolutionary Army was that Calla was located several thousand kilometers away from the Empire's capital. It was a prime location both to start as a border nation for Wakoku, and a Headquarters for the Revolutionary Army.

Over the months that had passed, Shirou had started thinking about the future.

Even if he himself was strong, what did it matter if there was a limit to the number of people he could save?

He couldn't be in Calla all the time, and what would happen when he eventually grew old and died?

If the strength of one man could save two, three, or more people, then by making others strong, they in turn could save more people to foster the next generation.

He'd privately discussed with Selka and Akame about training a specialized group of combat-oriented individuals. Elaine herself decided to contribute by tutoring a growing number of economists and merchants to keep the commerce area of Calla flourishing.

Of course, there would always be those with ulterior motives who could apply to the specialized group, but that was why he'd only be training a selected few that passed a certain criterion.

Akame herself was utilized at the end of the process to scrutinize the applicant. As a woman who had once acted as an assassin, she had seen the darker side of individuals and could tell at a glance whether someone was really who they appeared to be, or was just putting on a false guise.

Speaking of Akame, she'd been acting more reserved lately.

She may believe that he hadn't noticed, but he'd seen the way that she was unable to keep still. She'd often fidget in place, her hands rubbing against her knees whenever she sat down to rest seemingly hesitating on whether or not to act on whatever it was that she was thinking about.

The present situation was the same.

He wasn't the only one who got up early to work.

He was sitting in his office chair overlooking some of the official documentations that Elaine had provided him, while both Akame and Elaine sat off at the side.

Elaine had her own desk which she was furiously working over due to the increase in workload from technicalities involving the new migrants.

Although Akame was in the room, her mind just seemed to be elsewhere.

Even the fact that his little brother Artus was climbing onto her while Anna pulled on her hair didn't seem to affect her in the slightest. She just looked dazed if anything.

"Are you really aright?" he couldn't help but ask.

"…" Akame didn't answer. It was more like she didn't hear him until Artus climbed too far up her chest and caused her to react by instinct, dangling the brat by the leg in front of her.

Akame's lip twitched as she looked down at Anna who was still holding onto her hair and smiling at her.

These two were going to be the death of her. They had too much energy and it wasn't even time for them to begin their daily training.

Akame herself was no fool. She glanced at Elaine who pretended that she didn't notice.

However, it was clear that it was Elaine that had somehow coaxed Artus and Anna to play with Akame when she was too busy thinking to herself to notice.

She was glowering, but her expression was too stiff for anyone to notice.

"I'm fine," Akame soon answered Shirou's question after placing herself away from Artus and Anna. By 'placing,' she meant directly depositing them onto Elaine who looked utterly horrified.

"P-Permission to call Lord Edwin," Elaine stuttered while calling out to Shirou. She was making a dejected face as she felt helpless when Anna knocked over an entire stack of documents that she'd have to sort through again. "E-Early training is the best for children of this age." She insisted.

Shirou could only smile wryly and soon just pointed out the window.

Elaine's countenance visibly brightened.

There, walking up to the doorstep of the building was Edwin Pollus, the man who had taken it upon himself to tutor Artus and Anna in the way of the sword.

"A-Artus, A-Anna look!" Elaine pried both of the children off of her. "It's time for practice!"

"But we wanna pla-"

Not waiting for either Artus or Anna to reply, Elaine directly picked the two up and ran them out of the room. She returned moments later with a relieved expression.

"Why can't those two just grow up faster?" Elaine muttered under her breath.

She blinked moments later.

The room that Shirou and Akame had been in just before was now entirely empty.

_Damn it. They did it again._

She sighed before composing herself and walking up to a small drawer located by her work desk. Opening it, she pulled out a small key which she used to open a compartment in another area of Shirou's house. Inside was a small carrier pigeon that she used to filter through messages from her father and other contacts.

_'Shirou left early this morning again.'_

The message she tied to the leg of the bird was short. Thereafter, she took the bird into her hands and set it loose into the sky to fly to the Bukerfield family house.

She was far from pleased, but there was nothing that she could really do.

_Why doesn't he just ask for help?_

That was the only condition needed for her to reveal the true capabilities of the people of Calla to Shirou. Ignorance was bliss. It was Shirou's father's dying wish to prevent his children from getting caught up in anymore wars and violence for as long as possible, but right now it was having the opposite effect.

"This is bullshit." Elaine balled her hands into fists.

She already knew what Shirou was doing, much like everyone else in Calla.

The town's development was going well, and it even had several teams of Hunters to provide food until the crops could be harvested in spring. However, success would always breed envy.

The better Calla was doing, the more valuable a target it became to those outside.

Shirou thought of everyone in the town as normal residents, therefore, he must have had felt that it fell upon himself to handle the entirety of the burden to defend against enemies.

_He was doing it again._

Her earlies memories of him had always been of him taking care of her. Like the time her brothers had forgotten about her when they went drinking and left her at the bar all alone. It was Shirou who had taken her back home. There was also that time in the fields, that other time at aunt May's house, and even that time at the small creak, he'd always been there for her.

She'd made a promise to herself that when she grew older, she would be the one to protect him. Therefore, she'd undergone her father's strict training in order to become stronger.

She was no longer just a helpless girl, and yet, she was being shackled by the rules that every member of the town followed in honour of Shirou's late father.

_Those damn old geezers._

Elaine pursed her lips. She'd tried to argue against her grandfather several times already, but the dumb fart was adamant in refusing to reveal the secret to Shirou until it was necessary.

Necessary?

How could they not understand what was going on right now?

For the past few months, forces from the major factions of the Empire, Revolutionary Army, and people from Wakoku had been appearing in bulk outside of the steel walls.

The fact that the new migrants were unaware of these dangers was due entirely to Shirou's contribution. He went to patrol Calla's steel walls almost every morning and would stay there for a good part of the day with the excuse that he was out hunting.

Today was another such instance.

Whatever Teigu Shirou possessed, he was definitely starting to use it excessively.

Teigu themselves always possessed some sort of harm to the user. One as powerful as Shirou's had to possess severe repercussions that he just wasn't showing to anyone on the surface.

Truthfully, Elaine was starting to grow worried.

She waited anxiously for the carrier pigeons reply from her family home, but grew depressed when the message eventually came attached to the bird's leg with no red marking indicating for her to move out.

She read the message, but quickly crumpled it into a ball which she threw onto the floor and stepped on.

'Remain on stand by,' the note had said.

Her lips quivered, a hand pushing up her bangs over her head.

She was a grown woman at this point, and not once had she ever disobeyed her family, but this time she really couldn't keep it up much longer.

Screw the rules.

As the next heiress of the Bukerfield family with no real male intellectual leader of her current generation.

She _was_ the rules, or at least in the coming future, but that wasn't important right now.

She took off her glasses, and narrowed her blue coloured eyes.

Enough with economics and commerce, it was her turn to stay by Shirou's side.

In no way was she jealous of Akame's position as Shirou's acting body guard.

It was time to start her own plans.

She would show Shirou just how useful she could be.

* * *

Mission log, day six.

To be a Hunter, one had to be both fast and strong, and fierce when one needed to be. The act of Hunting itself was not a sport, but a way of living. People depended on the food and meat brought back from the hunt, therefore, Hunters could never allow themselves to grow careless or lax.

Of course, Leone was hardly paying attention to what Selka was telling her after days of going over the same thing over and over again.

In her mind, the occupation of Hunter itself was the same as a Warrior or military force in regards to the structure of Calla.

As it would turn out, Leone had been mistaken as one of the new recruits for the Hunting teams headed by the people of Heiwa who made up a majority of the manpower. This was entirely because of three reasons: Her attire, the time and place, and the notion that she was lost.

All of it, had thoroughly sealed off anything that she could say to convince Selka otherwise.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Selka was speaking in a formal tone, like a senior to a junior.

Presently, both Selka and Leone were in a guest house located within a training ground in the area that the people of Heiwa had settled on.

It really was surprising. Each new Hunter was given their own housing to stay within during the process of recruitment, and Leone was no exception. The only problem Leone was having was that she seemed to come off as someone who needed special care and motivation in order to take her new role as a 'Hunter' seriously.

The people of Heiwa would not send a man into an unmarried woman's house, therefore, Selka became the only one available to lecture and motivate.

The people of Heiwa really were dressed loosely though, Leone observed.

Compared to herself who was fairly revealing in her attire, Selka wore nothing more than thin furs that covered all that needed to be covered. To be frank, it was like Selka was just wearing fur underwear with threaded accessories worn like bracelets over her wrists and ankles. Some bracelets had feathers attacked, while others had Danger Beast teeth.

Perhaps due to a lack of covering, most of the people of Heiwa including Selka herself were tanned, but that was besides the point.

Leone's brow twitched when she looked at the clothing put away for her which Selka had proudly claimed to be a female Hunter's attire.

"Are you not satisfied?" Selka noticed the direction of Leone's gaze and directly spoke up to speak for the armour. "I was already of the opinion that there was too much fabric which limits movement, but Shirou insisted that it was better to have a little more covering. If you don't like it, I can cut off more of the fabrics."

Selka pulled up her silver hair, while holding on to a pin in her mouth which she then used to hold up her hair into a bun. "Pass it over," she called while reaching a hand out. "I'll get it done quickly."

Leone balked.

The attire was revealing enough. How thin was Selka planning on making it?

"N-No it's fine really." Leone refused right away. She was a fairly open individual, but there was a limit to being too open that Selka and the people of Heiwa didn't seem to understand. Then again, the people of Heiwa had always lived in a remote region before coming to Calla.

Selka frowned, but relented, moving back to the topic that she was speaking about earlier.

"Those who contribute more to the Hunt get a larger share of the prey. Therefore, even though a small portion of the food and earnings go to a 'Charity Union,' and 'Hunter Compensation,' a successful Hunter can still amass a fortune," Selka patiently explained. She'd come a long way from the girl whose thoughts had once been filled only with vengeance.

Looking at Leone, Selka couldn't help but feel that part of what she was saying was being ignored. "Do you remember what I just said?" Selka asked to make sure.

"Yup, yeah I remember everything," Leone replied absently. Her eyes though were more focused on her surroundings.

Like every other time, Leone was constantly looking for any opportunity to escape, but it was almost impossible to get anytime alone with all the other aspiring recruits in the area.

Seeing absolutely no openings that she could exploit to get away, Leone finally relented and resigned herself to whatever fate awaited her. Besides, if she was undergoing a recruitment of sorts, it probably wouldn't last forever anyway.

Selka looked at Leone suspiciously, but didn't say anything else.

"Right then, speaking of which, what's this 'charity' thing that you were talking about?" Leone asked after mulling over what Selka had said.

The word 'Charity' itself was not something widely known throughout the Empire or the other warring regions. The action of giving alms in and out of itself was also a bizarre and extremely uncommon sight to the point that it wasn't officially defined.

Leone's brows pinched together. "Also, what do you mean by 'Hunter Compensation?'"

Now there was a word that she was familiar with. 'Compensation,' to award an individual as a recompense for any troubles. Usually it was used in times of war. She vaguely recalled that the Empire might of have had had something similar in the past, but nothing too luxurious.

"The Charity thing and Hunter Compensation is quite simple. Shirou though of it." Selka's expression only ever broke away from her neutrality when she spoke of Shirou.

"You've seen the new migrants in town, right? Most of them are penniless and a few even come from the Empire's slums as escaped slaves." Selka crossed her arms and leaned her back on a wall. "'The Charity fund is meant to provide them food for free, and in turn, allow them to start a new life in which they could benefit Calla in their own way,' based on what Shirou said. A good policy, right?"

"…Uhm, ah yeah," Leone did her best to stop her expression from flickering, but it was starting to get too damn hard.

She'd literally stayed in Calla for several days now, and everything that she had been skeptical of had been proven false. T-This was basically the kind of place that many could only dream of within the Empire. Moreover, its inhabitants were strong.

_Makes on wonder what kind of response the Empire or Revolutionary Army would have?_

A darker and more bitter part of herself was screaming at the unfairness of it all, but she quelled such emotions. After all, the realization that such a place actually existed was far too surreal.

Selka raised a finger to continue her explanation as Leone fell into a daze.

"The Hunter Compensation is simple. If a Hunter dies or is permanently injured in duty, their families will be fully taken care of by Calla's Administrative Union. I don't know much of the details or logistics regarding this topic myself so don't expect anything thorough or detailed. For that you'd have to ask the secretary lady named Elaine in the head commerce building at the market place."

_Oh, was that so?_

Leone was beginning to grow numb to everything. The disparity between Calla and the world outside the walls was just too vast.

In fact, she was scared that if she stayed long enough, she may end up not wanting to leave.

_Shit. Focus._

Leone shut her eyes and took in a deep breath.

_Find Akame, and get out._

Those were the only objectives that she needed to complete. As for Calla, there was no way that she couldn't just not report what she had found here. Maybe the Revolutionary Army and Night Raid might even be able to ally with the town?

_You're being Naïve._

She knew how the world outside worked. It didn't change the fact that she had a job and a duty.

"Can I be excused for a bit? I want to look around the town a bit more since I just recently arrived." She asked her request to Selka after some consideration. Rather than try to sneak out, it was far better if she were 'allowed' out and then disappeared afterwards.

This approach appeared to be the best choice, as Selka simply nodded. "You wouldn't be the first to ask, but remember to be back by the afternoon. The Hunt will begin by then."

"Right," Leone nodded her head, and waited until Selka left before preparing her belongings.

In the six days that she'd spent learning to be a Hunter of Calla, she'd gotten a basic understanding of the town's layout. There was a small penitentiary set up to hold miscreants so she decided that it would be the second place she could visit to look for Akame.

Gathering all her belonging into a sack, she moved to walk out of the house that she'd been staying in for six days but hesitated at the door. Her gaze shifted back behind her, and she craned her neck to stare at the Hunter's garments laid out on the bed.

Her brows furrowed, but by the time that she left, the Hunter's garbs were nowhere to be seen.

It was safe to say that she ended up packing it into her bag.

No matter what she felt about Calla, the days that she'd spent in reconnaissance while being mistaken as a Hunter recruit would never be forgotten.

Kindness.

A stranger was shown kindness rather than doubt.

She sighed once again.

It was the first time that she began to question her current choices in life as an abandoned child that had grown up in the Empire's slums.

After leaving the area settled by the people of Heiwa, Leone resolved herself to get her mission done and over with. She walked with purpose. With a destination in mind, there was no need to hesitate any longer. Besides, all that she'd gotten from Selka when she had asked about a 'sword whose poison could kill in a single cut,' was a simple answer.

"If you want to fight her too, then that woman should be around the food stalls."

That was exactly where Leone was going first.

If she recalled, the food stalls were definitely inside the market place.

However, before she even reached her destination, she froze in place after sighting someone jumping across the roofs of Calla's houses in the direction of the forest.

A-Akame?

Her eyes dilated in an instant. There was no way that she could mistake the figure and bearings of a fellow comrade. As it was now, Akame didn't seem to have had noticed her.

Leone wasn't even thinking at this point. She bolted forward on the streets, even running through the yards of houses.

All that mattered was keeping up and making sure that Akame didn't get out of sight.

She'd learned her lesson the previous day regarding the security of Calla. There were many people with the ability to notice her if she wasn't being careful, therefore, as she chased after Akame she displayed utmost prudence. Even though she was trespassing over other people's property, she made sure to remain in the shadows of the buildings, and then the trees when she eventually reached the forest.

Akame was heading for the top of the steel walls.

Leone was hot in pursuit, and kept herself hidden by finding a vantage point atop a tree and peering out at Akame in the distance.

Rather than just finding Akame alone, Akame ended up arriving atop the steel wall with another individual.

Leone squinted her eyes.

Wasn't that the guy that she'd bumped into several days earlier? Shirou wasn't it? Of course, she'd already memorized the name. It was practically all that she could get Selka to talk about due to her uptight attitude. Selka wasn't the type to trust strangers, Leone herself could understand why considering just how treacherous the world truly was.

Caution was an essential skill.

She could respect that.

But what she couldn't understand was what some sheltered Young Lord of Calla would possibly be out doing on his own with Akame?

Damn it. She had enough waiting.

She was going to go right up there and demand answers.

Akame wasn't the type for desertion, there had to be something more about the situation that she was not privy about.

She evened her breath, and readied the muscles of her thighs to push off of the tree that she was perched on to make a dash to the top of the wall.

However, she balked almost instantly.

A pressure unlike anything she'd felt before assailed her senses. Her Teigu, Lionelle was reacting to whatever energy was being released, and it was trembling.

She looked up at the figure in front of her whose very disposition seemed to shift.

The scent of casted Wrought Iron permeated through the air.

Danger.

_Danger._

Her instincts were practically screaming at her.

She couldn't understand what was going on.

Her breath hitched, her hands growing clammy as her legs soon gave out on her, causing her to fall onto her bottom.

She didn't even notice that she'd fallen.

W-What in the world was she looking at right now?

* * *

Shirou already knew that conflict was inevitable.

Experience told him so.

And that was why he found himself standing atop the steel wall while overlooking the oncoming groups of people in the distance. Those who would seek to do Calla and its residents harm. They'd been coming back day after day, and he knew the frequency would only continue to increase with time.

Different from his last life, there were now many things that he still had left to protect, and this time it would be different.

It was never wrong to save others.

A life of saving everyone was one that he'd already lived and fulfilled. However, it was only in the end when he looked back at the road that he'd taken that he realized that he was entirely alone.

_A fool's dream._

_A path to hell._

Maybe it could have had been different.

Maybe it was inevitable, but there was no longer any turning back.

Only this time, perhaps he didn't have to be alone.

He looked back at the prospering town on the opposite side of the steel walls that he stood upon and felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and duty. He was saving many. Everyone was relying on him.

It was like the walls were shielding the inhabitants from the true cruelty of the realties outside, and he was perfectly fine with that. In fact, he thought himself as Calla's greatest shield.

Sooner or later, Calla would grow into a nation.

And it was his job to protect it until then. That was his way of changing the world.

The signs were already beginning to show.

The Empire and the higher brass of the Revolutionary Army may be unaware of it, but the people of the slums, the vagrants, and the slaves were beginning to talk of a haven beyond the reach of outside influence. A land of rich pastures, wheat, and freedom.

It was never truly the people in power that controlled everything in a country, but the populace as a whole. This was a universal truth.

The masses themselves would speak.

The masses themselves would show.

Everyday Calla's migration rate continued to soar, until eventually, those living in hardship in the Capital would hear of it. The people of the slums, the oppressed, the slaves, the refuges, Calla would take them all and grant them a chance at a better life.

The world didn't have to be cruel or full of lies.

It was greedy and ambitions humans themselves that were making the world as it was.

He sought to change that by giving the people a place to live and choose their own paths. That was Calla.

That was his reason for fighting.

Different from the world that he had once lived in, the new world that he found himself within was truly in need of saving. Not just for himself, but for the people relying on him.

He'd walked this road once.

He could walk it again.

_A body of steel, blood of fire, but a heart of glass._

He didn't like killing. He never did, but he was no longer as naïve as he used to be.

His lips thinned, there was no longer any other decision to make.

Lately, the people of Wakoku had taken notice of the migration of several of its tribes, moreover, the Empire and the Revolutionary Army were starting to show signs of involvement.

This wasn't even the first time.

_Run. Please. Just Run._

Why couldn't they understand?

Were lives really worth nothing in the eyes of those in power?

He could see the clouds of dust rising into the air from the marching of an armed convoy from Wakoku. Even further away, were several groups of Empire scouts on the side outside of the wall.

_Run. Run Away. Before it was too late._

Magical energy began to course through his body, physically appearing over his skin in the form of a dull cyan coloured interface pattern. Akame backed away from him, sitting on the side while taking out a piece of dried jerky and chewing on it. She already knew what was bound to happen.

_Don't make me do this._

No matter how much he hoped that the enemies before him would understand the situation that they were walking towards, they could not hope to image what was truly awaiting them.

Two thousand meters.

Fifteen hundred.

They looked no more than the size of ants from his view atop the wall, yet he could see them clearly. There was a limit to how close he could allow them to get.

_Stop. Stop now._

His muscles tensed in preparation, an eerie silence descending along with a buffeting wind produced from the congregation of magic shooting forth into the mana-dry air.

Nothing was changing.

In fact, the speed of the approaching enemies increased.

He closed his eyes.

There were people that he had to protect.

Family and Friends.

If conflict was inevitable, then so be it.

Come.

"I am the Bone of my Sword."


	11. Chapter 11

It was a will.

A mantra.

Energy swelled from within him like an expanding balloon, suffusing every inch of his skin until a faint thrum began to emanate within the air.

The scouts before him were separated into different groups, those loyal, and those whose attachments were merely hanging by a thread. He could tell such things at a glance simply from their equipment.

Those loyal wore full pieces of leather armour and were well equipped with weapons and tools for reconnaissance. The rest in comparison were only wearing light tunics that they'd packed from their impoverished families.

Their faces, their breathing, their uneasiness.

His eyes captured it all.

No matter how much he wished to avoid taking lives, it always came down to the same conclusion.

Would there ever be an option to save everyone?

Could he ever find such an answer?

At least in this case, there was nothing else that he could do.

His body released a shudder, before he resolved himself.

Conceptualize, and give form.

His was a magic whose strength was not restricted by the limitations of output or skill, but of imagination and creativity.

A forge and a Blacksmith.

If he did not have a suitable weapon at hand, he would create it.

_Fifteen-Hundred._

_A Thousand Meters._

Not once did he take his attention off of the enemy.

The scouts were still quite far, but they did not understand that they had already come dangerously close.

A hand extended outward, fingers curling upon an illusory frame.

A Black Bow. A Long Bow.

One of his most familiar weapons.

Long Distance Tactical Sniping.

What he was going to do right now was no different from the military terms that he'd learned from the twenty-first century.

Arrows.

What was a bow without arrows?

Ammunition decided everything, and his was a bow that did not fire ordinary rounds.

"Trace, On."

His Magic Circuits thrummed from within him, congregating upon the center of his palm. Swords manifested in the air one by one, their splendor and might radiating outwards with a pressure beyond common understanding and bordering on Mythic.

Noble Phantasms, Crystalized Legends.

Many were ordinary, but most possessed distinct qualities. Several imposing, and two Demonic.

Akame who was watching from the side, subconsciously inched backwards, her pupils dilated.

This was the power of magic, the strength of a Wizard.

One.

Two.

Six.

Nine.

Teigu were being made on a whim.

It was sobering. What she thought to have had been impossible, or beyond anyone's means was being accomplished right before her. It was even more difficult to swallow for Leone who was watching in the background.

Just looking at the swords was enough for anyone to understand that they weren't ordinary. One had such feral bloodlust, that it was if she could see the phantom image of a hound howling in the open plains. The other was entirely twisted, possessing an energy that would sooner damn a soul into hell rather than save it.

Her breathing was erratic, and she was hardly making an effort to conceal herself anymore. If not for the dense upper canopy of the tree branches, she would have had definitely been exposed. "…"

Swords themselves were not meant to be fired from a bow.

They had to be mended.

_Twist, and bend._

_Alter._

He willed them to change shape, metal curling and stretching until it grew thin and stream-like. A projectile that would pierce through the hardest of armour.

Wind began to buffet from beneath him, a vortex that first sprung from the soles of his feet up all the way to his chest upon the full release of his stored magical energy. The amount of magic that he could have on hand was limited, therefore, he had to be conservative. Only use what was necessary.

He exhaled, a dull shimmer of blue manifesting over his bronze-coloured eyes.

Set.

Lock.

Aim.

The bow in his hands gradually notched, the bow straining at the edges, as the string itself shone with a metallic luster.

His muscles tensed, veins popping up over his arms as he pulled back and loaded the first 'Arrow.'

It was as if time had stopped, his back straightening, and expression growing cold.

Hawk Eye.

To fully grasp one's situation and the abilities of the enemy.

There would be no escape.

Lead them, gather them in one place.

His fingers released the string of his bow.

A gale the likes of which had never been seen before erupted around him. Akame was forced to shield her eyes, the distant trees and foliage swaying uncontrollably as a projectile of man was let loose.

Leone felt her mouth instantly dry.

It was like a star was streaking across the sky, leaving behind a trail of destruction wherever it went. The shockwave itself was defining due to her close proximity, and it almost sounded as if a beast was roaring under the composed disposition of the shooter.

A realm of folklore. A Fable.

Leone couldn't help but think of it.

Back before the Empire had its breakthroughs in technology and development, when the bow and arrow reigned supreme as the strongest long-distance weapon, there were tales of experts. They who had traversed the realm of human limitation to create miracles. Swordsmen, Lancers, Shielders, and Archers creating feats beyond the scope of what a mere sword, spear, shield, or bow could do.

They were hailed as prodigies.

Assets of the Empire and the other Nations that directly correlated to a country's strength as told in stories.

Right now, she couldn't help but think of those myths while looking at the projectile sailing through the air.

The Arrow of a Hunter.

A Marksman's Fang.

The scouts ahead could harldy understand what was happening until it was too late.

When the 'Arrow' struck, it struck with a furor that cratered the ground.

There was no explosion, no definite sound, but the eeriness in suddenly seeing a comrade impaled through the chest and pinned to the ground was terrifying.

They began to run and panic in confusion.

This was exactly what Shirou wanted.

In rapid succession, he took three more 'Arrows' and unleashed them over the distant enemies.

He was hording them, preventing them from spreading too thin.

It was like he was in control of everything. That was the illusion that Leone could see and it was numbing when she recalled that this was the very same man that's she'd nearly smothered to death by accident.

She was trembling.

This kind of power was unheard of.

Worse, something else was about to happen.

Amidst the group of scouts, one of them was clearly beginning to direct orders and quell the panic that Shirou had caused. At the same time though, this leader was putting himself in the safest place possible to avoid death. The others around, were nothing more than meat shields.

Shirou's eyes narrowed in an instant.

He had to stop the enemy from rallying, and as good as his vision was, it was hard to keep track of a single target when one hid behind an entire group of people.

Fine then.

It would still do no good.

In every unit, scouts or otherwise, there was always a leading figure, and Shirou understood that he'd already found that individual.

No amount of hiding was going to change anything.

He loaded one of the two demonic swords over his bow.

It smelled the blood of the battle, the violence.

A red luster surrounded it almost like a flame.

It was pitch-black, the kind only found at the darkest depths of an abyss.

It would find its target.

" **Hrunting** ," he called out its name, a surge of power spread outwards at the beckoning.

Howl.

Howl once more, and stride across the swaying of the reeds.

A Magic Bullet.

The Hound of the Red Plains.

It was a beam of red light so fast that one would miss it if they had so much as even blinked. A ripple formed in the air composed of numerous waves from where Hrunting had been shot, dissipating outwards after basking the vicinity in a suffocating bloodlust.

It would not stop.

_It would not tire._

Leone instinctively felt that as soon as that 'Arrow' was shot, there would be no dodging. It would relentlessly bite at the heels until its target was met and torn apart. Even Akame had to look twice and consider the prospects of evading such an attack.

Even then, it moved at a speed that was beyond the capabilities of normal mortals to dodge.

It arrived in an instant, bypassing all of the people in front of it to reach its sole target. The fact that none could stop it even if they wanted to was despairing. The leading individual himself tried to hide behind the bodies of his comrades, but even then, when there was no way to bypass an obstacle, Hrunting pierced right through.

"How tyrannical." Leone muttered under her breath. "There's no way out."

The leader died with six others stabbed to death by a single arrow in front of him.

The scouts without a leader began to panic and once again move to the rhythm of the fired 'arrows.'

Eventually, the majority of them grouped up, and by then, it was practically over.

The remaining scouts that were still alive after the initial assault were staring up into the air in the direction of the steel walls. Reality itself seemed to be distorting and twisting into a vortex that was inconceivable.

They began to tremble.

"T-That's not human," one of them stuttered out in helplessness.

They could see it from where they were standing.

A black light whose glow was soon shifting into a violent crimson and blue.

The area was eerily silent. Even the sound of the animals and forest ceased.

A pregnant pause.

The Empire. Wakoku. The Revolutionary Army.

"What are we facing here?"

Magic.

A power that none of them knew, or had ever seen.

It was daunting.

A Core Twisted in Madness.

The Spiraled Sword of the Rainbow.

" **Caladbolg**."

The voice that traversed the air was hardly a whisper. No more than a simple mutter that could not have had been heard unless one was listening intently, yet it rung with a harrowing resonance.

The light in Leone's eyes died as she felt the explosion even from where she was standing. This kind of power, this kind of destruction, what was it doing in the hands of a single person?

She felt her own vision swimming, but she couldn't dispel the feelings of helplessness and despair that the scouts must have had felt before their deaths.

It was too much.

W-What if there was more than just one person with that kind of ability in Calla? The thought was nerve wracking.

She swallowed before going still.

There was no way that she could go up there now even if Akame was there.

She had no idea what kind of personality Shirou had, and had only seen the resoluteness in hiss eyes as he killed hundreds in an instant.

He was dangerous.

Far more dangerous than any danger beast or human that she'd ever met.

She pursed her lips while looking back outwards.

It was a plume of smoke, ashes, flame, and debris that stretched towards the very heavens in the skies. Perhaps only the people in Calla would not notice due to the height of the walls, but such a scene could be seen for miles on out.

It was a warning.

The rest of the scouts that hadn't been fully committed to their task stared numbly not that much farther away from those that died.

Without any order or discussion, they fled as if in the presence of a monster.

Up on the wall, Shirou felt himself start to stagger, but Akame was there to support him. It was always like this after using his magecraft. Unless he had a store of Danger Beasts bones which he could extract magical reserves from, the feeling of emptiness within him was difficult to bear.

Akame only thought it natural that such a power came with repercussions. She had become accustomed to his abilities already. It made it easier for her that she categorized him as 'Wizard' and simply didn't think about anything else. Of course, she didn't understand the details, but with the remains of the Danger Beasts that Shirou now had on hand thanks to the Hunting teams and previous battle, Shirou soon stabilized himself.

Getting back onto his own feet, Shirou watched as the rest of the scouts ran away. Most were injured from shrapnel and loose rock, and an unlucky few that had been too close to Caladbolg's blast had their ear drums ruptured.

He didn't take any action to snipe them.

"You're letting them get away again?" Akame asked dryly.

From an assassin's perspective, his actions looked entirely foolish, bordering on irrational, and he could clearly see the way Akame's hand was steadily making its way towards her sword's sheath. Her lips were thinned, and her eyes narrowed, as if assessing where it was that she should strike first.

Her breathing was also growing increasingly even, her muscles in her legs and arms tensing as her body inclined forward into a crouch.

Letting the enemy get away was never advised, more so if they were scouts.

It was only necessary.

Twenty Seconds.

She could arrive at that battlefield in less than twenty seconds if she moved now.

And yet, he would not let her,

"Don't Akame," he stopped her before she could move into action.

He didn't think that she realized it herself, but after years of living a life as an assassin, there were some things that her body was doing subconsciously even without her mind willing it to do so.

She was a person who'd already seen and experienced enough death.

And yet, there was more to life than just killing and surviving.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, and did not let go.

"Huh?" A sound of confusion involuntarily escaped her mouth.

"It's enough. You've done enough Akame," his voice was tired, almost weary.

She was staring at him as if she was looking at an idiot, but there was a light in her eyes that seemed to be utterly confused. That light was innocence. Perhaps in another time and in another life, she could have had just been an ordinary girl more worried about her appearance and love-life rather than a killer.

You aren't a monster.

You aren't just a murderer.

You too are human.

He wouldn't allow her to dig herself into a deeper hole.

"There's no need to spill blood any further," he insisted, making sure that she understood him and knew that he was being entirely serious.

She sucked in a breath, and shrugged off his hand from her shoulder.

"You're unreasonable," she said bluntly. "Do you know that sometimes mercy is only met by treachery?"

The people that were allowed to live, they would no doubt come back as enemies.

How could Shirou not know what Akame was talking about? He'd experienced such a situation first hand in his past life while working as a hired mercenary. He let a group of enemies live, only for them to come back and harm another group of allies. It was one of the many hardships that he endured which soon aided to disillusion him to the prospect of saving everyone.

Yet still, this time was different.

"You may be right, Akame, but do you think that the scouts are working of their own volition?"

Were they truly loyal, or did the circumstances merely force them to obey the commands of those in power?

His past experience in showing mercy was based on a group of people who had a purpose and drive that death could not dissuade them from carrying out. Compared to people who were only working to feed their families and friends, the two were distinctly different.

There was no point in needlessly killing. That wasn't who he was.

"…" Akame didn't answer.

She knew the circumstances of the lower and mid class citizens of the Empire, and therefore, she had no definite rebuttal.

It reflected the fact that Akame was a good girl.

She wasn't meant to be a killer.

If one looked at the way Akame regarded those that she cared about like her friends, then it was clear to see that she wasn't suited for the cold and callous persona her profession required. Deluding herself into believing that she must always kill, was in itself an action to protect her mind from breaking.

He didn't want to see her sink herself any further than she already had. By then she would drown, and he'd have no idea if she would ever be able to extricate herself from that kind of life.

The blood. The violence. The retribution.

Leave those sorts of things to him.

He whose hands had already been dyed so red that no amount of washing could ever clean them.

Metal etched or bent to the point of failure, yet still holding strong. A black that no amount of colour would change.

He was the Hero of Wrought Iron.

No matter how many times his own ideals would harm him, he would never stop persisting.

That was why,

"Trust me," he spoke to Akame while staring her in the eyes. Just be yourself. Don't taint yourself any further.

Akame did not know to react other than to purse her lips.

This fool.

This utter fool.

Her expression was wavering, but in the end, she relented with a tired sigh.

"You'll regret this." She said, releasing the grip that she had on her sword's hilt.

He grinned.

"To regret or not to regret, that's for me to decide isn't it? And I choose to believe in the good of the people. This world is not entirely corrupted."

She stared at him with an unreadable expression.

A part of her was beginning to wonder how different the Empire would have had been if someone like Shirou had been made the Emperor.

She shut her mouth and didn't say anything else to deny Shirou's words.

Even if she didn't want to admit anything, in this instance, his persistence had already defeated her.

"Fine then, I'm going," she said before leaving in a hurry back in the direction of Calla. Her feet pushed off of the steel walls and before Shirou could say anything else, she was gone.

It was almost as if she was panicked.

A part of her felt that if she stayed by Shirou's side any longer, her life's perspectives would undoubtably change. She didn't know if she wanted that, so she had left in a fluster, despite her face being expressionless.

She really wasn't used to this feeling.

Shirou didn't explicitly say it, but his actions could basically be inferred as him trying to limit her from killing.

And yet, other than killing, what other purpose could she serve?

There was no efficiency in being useless.

The answer to her question would not be answered so easily, more so with how distracted she quickly became when her path was obstructed.

Due to her carelessness, she hadn't even noticed when a figure had moved to bar her way until it was too late to avoid a confrontation.

Forest surrounded the entire area, trees and foliage blocking visibility. Therefore, not even Shirou could find the exact location unless Akame made some kind of noise, but she wasn't going to.

After all, she knew the person in front of her almost too well.

"L-Leone," she stuttered out.

It was a dear comrade. Someone that Akame had been avoiding entirely because she didn't want to come into conflict.

Leone was staring at Akame in silence, and when the silence eventually broke, it wasn't the start of an interrogation like Akame had expected.

Instead, Leone just looked utterly dazed.

"What kind of Monster was that?" She asked her.

* * *

It was strange.

Akame had left earlier, but she wasn't back yet despite several hours already passing. By now it was already mid-afternoon.

Shirou wasn't one to count the time, but considering the fact that Akame had always shadowed him in her free time, her current absence was worrying. At the same time though, he could already picture her getting annoyed at his concern for her. It may come off as overly meddlesome and she was no longer a child.

He sighed.

For now, maybe it was best if he just gave her a bit of space? She'd been acting differently ever since the latest batch of migrants had come along.

Akame aside, it was time to consider a plan of action. Although he'd repelled the enemy scouts, there was still merit in Akame moving to eliminate the rest. At the very least, it would have had delayed the response time of the various factions in the world. However, whether they came sooner or later, it didn't change the fact that they would certainly come.

He would not regret his own decisions.

He did not wish to be a Hero only to become a killer of the unfortunate.

The problem he was facing now, was that in the short term, no matter what the Empire or other forces threw at him, he'd be able to rebuff them without much concern. The issue lied in the long term. Should the demand on his magical energy exceed the supply of Danger Beasts that he had on hand, then he feared that he alone would not be enough to stop an army.

The one advantage that he had over all of the locals in the world, was that he alone had magic.

Magic was strong.

It was the same principle as his previous world.

A single Magus had the potential to decimate hundreds if not thousands of normal people at once given the right conditions. His situation of being the only magus in a world devoid of magic users, was much the same.

Humans were fragile after all.

It was all the more reason that he had to vigilantly protect everything that he held dear.

While caught up in his musings, he eventually ended up walking towards the area where a majority of migrants from Wakoku had decided to settle in Calla.

What he saw was an odd sight.

Was that Elaine?

She was standing there near the middle of the street while discussing something with a look of seriousness on her face. Oddly enough, she wasn't wearing her glasses and her hair was done slightly differently to cover up only one side of her face with her bangs.

The person in question that Elaine was talking to was Selka and the two appeared in heated discussion. It was only when numerous children began to flock towards Selka that Elain relented before pursing her lips.

The children were trailing behind Selka and climbing onto her legs and arms. Selka herself was indulging them and had no trouble lifting them up with her physical abilities as a woman of Heiwa.

Most of the children themselves were children of the other mothers that Selka was acquainted with on the harrowing journey that she had led her people on to seek refuge in Calla. To be frank, the children hanging off of her were the next generation of Heiwa's Hunters and women.

Different from Elaine, Selka was good at handling children.

She saddled one of the runts on her back while simultaneously supporting two more on her left and right arms. She made sure not to carelessly run over any of the children near her legs, and deliberately slowed down her pace to safely move the toddlers sitting on her feet.

It was an endearing sort of sight, more so because Selka was the type of person who was generally reserved towards strangers. Right now, she was smiling and grinning at the children around her.

"I'm a great and mighty Hunter," Selka boasted aloud. "You all have to work hard in the future too for your families."

Right now, it was evident that Selka had yet to notice him, because she'd never say anything like that with a straight face when he was around. It was really making him to start to wonder if he was being hated?

It really did look natural on her.

Now that he thought about, even on the first time that he had met Selka, she'd always been surrounded by children. She must have had a strong affinity to them, and made them feel comfortable.

Maybe he could ask her to look after Artus and Anna when he was too busy?

He really began to consider the prospect.

If it were Elaine, she'd definitely agree to it.

Still, the expression that Selka made when she finally realized that he was, in fact, standing only a few feet away from her, was oddly peculiar.

She basically just froze while stammering incoherently. It was as if she didn't know what she could say to redeem herself. The children began to whisper and point at him. Being so near the children, Selka could make out what they were saying, and it was only serving to make her cheeks redden.

"So that's big sis Selka's husband?"

"Yeah, yeah, its definitely him!"

Rather than speaking, or doing anything else, Selka's hands immediately covered the mouths of the children that were blathering nonsense.

She directly used her physical capabilities to run every single child near her back to their mothers who were all giving her encouraging looks in the distance.

Frankly, it was mortifying.

By the time that she was finished, she felt out of breath, but to Shirou, hardly a minute had passed.

Selka's speed was admirable.

In fact, it was probably the fastest that he'd ever seen her, and they had once fought a battle together against the people of Hageshi. It was starting to make him wonder if Selka had held back, or if her potential was already beginning to flourish.

In either case, she greeted him reservedly.

"Greetings Shirou," she inclined her head.

Inwardly, she was chanting 'please forget what you've just seen' in her mind nonstop. There was a perpetual tinge of red on her upper cheeks that she could feel was not going away. The embarrassment was suffocating, but she maintained her expression.

Fortunately, Shirou's attention shifted towards Elaine who was distinctly avoiding eye contact with him.

"Not wearing your glasses?" He asked.

Elaine shook head.

"I don't really need them," she admitted. The only reason that she wore glasses was that it was a tad straining on the eyes to sort through pile after pile of paper work. "More than that, how are you feeling?"

That was a vague kind of question.

He considered why Elaine would be asking him such a thing, but he gave out a normal response.

"I'm not feeling too bad, just a little tired is all," He said in reply.

Elaine didn't look like she believed him, and Selka was too busy staring at the ground to notice.

"Is that so?" Elaine scrutinized him up and down. "You look pale," she noted.

Selka looked up un surprise, taken off guard by Elaine's observation. Selka's concern for Shirou outweighed her personal shame.

"My natural complexion," he spoke before thinking. He'd been friends with Elaine for so long that his responses were almost compulsory at this point. It was an answer that wouldn't allow her to worry for him too much, but this time was different.

She just kept staring at him in a silence that was quickly stretching.

Strong as any man could be, women were undeniably intimidating when they just stared and did nothing else. It was as if he had done something wrong, and he didn't even know about what.

Yup.

In times like these, the only real answer for any logical man was to retreat in the face of the incomprehensible.

Unfortunately, he failed to take into account that moving too vigorously after just recovering from his earlier expenditure up on the walls, was far from the best choice that he'd ever made.

He staggered on his feet, not noticing the concern that was evident in both Elaine and Selka's eyes who noticed the detail. He didn't fit the image of perfect health in the least.

"Are you alright?" Selka moved to support him, but he shook his head.

"No no, it's fine. I'm alight," he insisted while he scratched wryly at the back of his head. "I just worked a bit too hard on something this morning."

Elaine's lips thinned. How could she not know what Shirou had done? She was near enough to see it all. How could such power not have had taken a toll on him?

Elaine looked at Selka in silent communication, and it was only after looking at Shirou that Selka finally relented.

"I agree to your proposal," Selka nodded at Elaine.

Shirou was the only one who felt like he was out of the loop simply because he _was_. Worse, neither of the two seemed to have any intention of including him.

Elaine just gave him a cryptic smile.

"You don't have to work yourself too hard anymore," she placed a hand dutifully in front of her chest. "Just leave those things to us."

_You, Artus, and Anna, were far more important than what you could ever imagine._

* * *

Again? The scouts were all killed again?

The news was difficult to swallow, more so because of all of the efforts that were being put in to discover what was going on near the borders of the Empire.

One man was the leader of the entire reconnaissance effort by the Empire. An elderly and veteran soldier that had once served in a united Empire before the fracture with the Revolutionary Army.

The Empire would still continue its efforts. With a variable like the sudden emergence of large steel walls appearing within the borders of the country, there was no way that it could be left unknown.

There was a base camp set up a long distance away from the walls. It was a precautionary action, but it served to keep the remaining scouts and new scouts from the Capital safe from long distance attacks. Even Shirou would not needlessly attack simply because they were far enough away from his bottom line.

Still, that didn't mean that the residents of Calla were unaware of the camp.

Elaine, was particularly thorough.

Therefore, no matter how safe the Empire's scouts felt, it was a far cry from the truth.

They were already within the fangs of a crouching tiger.

Shadow-like figures were moving around the vicinity of the camp, making sure to stay out of sight until the entire area was surrounded. The scouts present in the camp were from another unit separate from the ones that had attempted infiltration in the morning.

They had no idea that the vanguard had been met with utter defeat and were in a particularly joyous mood. The Empire and Count Berkin had promised a handsome reward for any willing to provide them with information about what lied behind the steel walls, particularly of the military arrangements.

Looting was perhaps one of the most profitable activities for an empire built on power and war.

The mentality was that if such sturdy walls could be produced in a short time-frame, then the town or city being protected inside must have had been rich with resources. Considering the economic decline and degradation of the Empire, new resources could prolong the amount of time that Honest, the Advisor, could exploit the Empire's coffers.

Unfortunately, Calla wasn't a place to be taken lightly, nor did it take well to enemies vying to destroy the peace.

"We're in a place," a shadow reported to a masked figure in the foliage.

Behind the mask was a face that was entirely familiar to any bounty hunter in the Empire.

It was Raiga of the Mountain Bandits. However, Raiga hadn't always been a bandit. What if it were all just an act?

"Get into groups and start by eliminating the weakest members of the camp," Raiga spoke gruffly, there was an air of military discipline to him that could not be ignored. He stood with his back straightened and carried a poise only worthy for someone of noteworthy standing. "I'll take an advanced group and look for the leader."

The shadow nodded and soon left at Raiga's behest.

Raiga and the others were wearing a matching set of uniforms that had not been seen in decades. Leather armours bound together by fastened steel pauldrons that resembled the appearance of an imperial legion. They were from a time before even Honest, the Advisor, had come into power.

Each of them bore a particular crest at the top right of their shoulders just above their pectorals.

"Kill them."

The order was given, and almost methodically, all noise steadily began to fade from the camp along with the flickering of the flame at the cooking pit.

It was the ignorance of those in power indulging themselves in food and wine that prevented them from understanding that something was wrong until it was too late.

The night grew silent, not even the buzzing of the crickets to be heard.

One man blearily woke up from a drunken stupor to take a piss by the trees, but grew confused when he noticed several pairs of eyes staring at him.

He blinked only for a moment before looking down in shock as a metal dagger steadily pierced its way through his chest.

"E-Enemy…" The man's voice trailed off before he collapsed.

Similar events were happening all throughout the base camp before the stench of iron suffused the air.

It was enough to get the old veteran leader sober.

It was the scent of war and death.

Something was definitely wrong.

The leader was the only one in the base camp to obtain a personal room to sleep within. Other than himself, there was no one else around him.

The tent that he slept within was decorated with silks and personal items which he had obtained in his war campaigns as a veteran of the Empire. Trophies of Danger Beast corpses were hung near a decorated canvas, and not too far off was his own treasured sword.

Feeling apprehensive, the man moved towards his sword and slowly drew it forth from its sheath to gain a sense of security.

Calm.

Collected.

He could not allow himself to grow fearful.

This was the experience that he'd learned on the battlefield.

Slowly, he made his way towards the flaps of his tent and opened them wide to see the state outside. The noisy din of the evening was nowhere to be heard, and it was hard for the man to believe that every scout in the camp was a light weight when it came to drinking.

What he saw when he opened the flaps of his tent was a massacre.

The bodies of several of his men and even the hired mercenaries were laying flat and motionless. Over their bodies was the same wound.

A single stab to the heart, ending it all even before any noise or alarm could be sounded.

What kind of force could accomplish such a thing, and why was the Empire not aware of its existence?!

These people were professionals.

The veteran leader staggered back in a daze. He knew full well that he alone was far from a match to whatever group had carried out such a clean massacre. Sure enough, they soon arrived in front of him one by one standing in military ranks.

"Good evening to you," Raiga greeted cordially while stepping into the front. His expression was anything but friendly with a glaring red scar that ran across the bottom of his left eye. "I hope you don't mind the little mess here. Your activities have been upsetting the young miss, and she urged us into action."

"Your crazy," the veteran gathered his nerves and replied back. "The Empire has never once fallen to any enemy! You will regret this!"

Raiga simply shrugged at the unconcealed threat. The only reason that the veteran was left alive, was to convey a message.

"Tell your superiors that you all best not come back," Raiga spoke curtly, already turning his back away in dismissal.

The veteran was incensed. He enjoyed a high status ever since the conclusion of the Empire's expansionary wars. He could not tolerate this level of contempt. He was not like the common filth that begged for food on the streets.

"You curs! Bandits! Traitorous Rogues and Rabble!" The man exploded with a slurry of insults, not knowing that he had touched upon a rather sensitive subject.

"Bandits? Rabble?"

Raiga's shoulders trembled along with a majority of the men around him. It was true that he was now known as Raiga of the Mountain Bandits, but he was clearly not suited for such a role. The discipline and order that he instilled in his men was proof of that.

He wasn't a Bandit. He was something much more.

Most of the Empire's history had been lost four-hundred years ago, but it didn't mean that it had lost everything. There were parts in history that weren't written, yet it wasn't as if those events did not happen. For instance, to safeguard the safety of an important individual, relatives and friends could be written as 'deceased,' or had their names changed.

"None of you know just who you're dealing with," the expression on Raiga's face changed into a sneer. This wasn't part of what Elaine had asked him to do, but it should prove to be far more effective at making the Empire realize that Calla should not be lightly meddled with.

There were consequences.

"Look for yourselves and know your folly."

Raiga pointed at the emblem on his shoulder.

It wasn't visible in the low light of the moon, but when the flames flickered and briefly illuminated the emblem on his shoulder, the veteran immediately staggered back as if struck.

That symbol.

The veteran had seen it before upon the murals of history and in the Empire's very own audience hall.

"I-Impossible!" The man's eyes widened in disbelief.

A red crest fashioned in the form of a dragon held aloft over an aged and vaunted war banner.

A proof of identity.

An Imperial Seal.

Something only worn by those whose loyalty stemmed only to the Royal Family.

The Standard of the First Emperor.


	12. Chapter 12

The Empire was a nation whose history spanned hundreds of years stemming from the First Emperor who commanded the greatest of minds during the Empire's Golden Age. A prosperous land, it was said that water ran through the distant capital, and the food and cattle abundant throughout all walks of life.

A utopia rich in resources and military strength dwarfing all others.

People were happy, the government ensuring prosperity under the leadership of a capable ruler whose shadow and influence loomed over both the Western Lands and the Nations of Wakoku. None dared oppose it, none dared to invade it, and the Empire in kind quelled its expansion.

A balance had been made.

A Kingdom that would last for a thousand years. However, age changed all.

The First Emperor grew old and would no longer be able to efficiently govern the state. The duty was inherited instead by the First Emperor's children. To further ensure the livelihood of the nation, forty-eight Teigu known as Imperial Arms were commissioned into creation by the First Emperor. Tools of war, they were the Empire's greatest military assets which formed the first Imperial Legion of forty-eight commanded by the two Sons of the First Emperor.

They were brothers with a strong bond.

One received the throne, the other took up military command as the first Great General.

Decades passed, and tradition was carried out.

From the brother who acquired the throne, his descendants became the new Emperor of each generation.

From the brother who took up military command, his descendants were the Empire's greatest sword and shield against the Empire's enemies.

Then tragedy struck in the era of the six-hundredth year.

A Civil War that split the Empire down the middle. Records, Teigu, and entire armies were lost, the Imperial Legion of forty-eight forever disbanded; the Standard of the First Emperor carried by the original two brothers, never to see deployment again.

Shifting towards the present, the Empire was once again embroiled in Civil War against the Revolutionary Army and its allies from the Western Region.

The historic chronicles dating back hundreds of years during the Empire's Golden age, were forgotten through time.

* * *

Akame couldn't find the words to speak when faced against a person that she viewed as a dear friend.

The forest around her was silent, and only the rustling of the leaves up high in the canopy could really be heard. She pursed her lips, her eyes glancing downward towards the ground as she grasped lightly onto her right arm with her left.

The kindness that he showed her.

The trust that he gave her, a murderer.

"He's not a monster," she whispered lowly in response to Leone's earlier words.

No matter how she thought about it, that fool who would show his back to an assassin he'd never met before was too stupid to be categorized as a monster. Moreover, she thought back to the way he'd smile dumbly while labouring for the people whose social status was far below his own.

She looked back up and stared Leone straight in the eyes. "He's not a monster," she repeated stronger.

Leone looked taken aback.

"Akame, are you joking?" She asked incredulously. "Did you not just see what he did?"

Shirou's earlier feat of sniping down the distant scouts from the Empire played clearly through Leone's mind, but Akame was unperturbed.

"Then does protecting others make him a monster?" She replied back.

"…"

Akame shook her head. "This isn't the first time that the Empire, Wakoku, or the Revolutionary Army's forces have come. No matter how many times Shirou tried to dissuade them, they just kept coming. Was he supposed to just let them disrupt the peace in Calla?"

Leone scrunched up her face. "But that kind of power-"

"Is not in the hands of someone evil," Akame interrupted. "He's not a monster." He's the world's hope. She would not budge on the issue, forcing Leone to relent and put the matter aside.

However, this meant that Leone now had the time to consider the most obvious point to make.

"Why'd you stop sending reports?" She asked in confusion. "Are they forcing you to stay here?"

Akame stiffened, but Leone didn't notice due to the frown that made its way onto her face.

Akame felt her mouth dry, the blood running cold through her body. She wanted to run away, to avoid this confrontation at all costs, but there really was nothing that she could do. The beating of her heart echoed clearly through her ears.

"No, they aren't," she spoke the truth. With how experienced Leone was, there was no way that Leone wouldn't notice a lie.

Leone stared at Akame with a perplexed expression. Akame was not deceiving her. She started thinking and soon came to a realization.

Rather than forcing Akame to stay, wasn't the situation more like she couldn't?

Leone began to earnestly think about it.

The people in Calla were veterans such that even she was weary of who she interacted with. A single slip up would be enough to land her into a situation that she would not be able to escape from. Worse, it wasn't apparent, but Calla was definitely guarded by a group of operatives in the shadows. The fact that a bar tender turned out to be a high-level infiltrator was still fresh in Leone's mind. Therefore, if the bar tender was that capable, then what about the people living near Calla's entrances and exits?

There was no way that Akame would be able to send reports in this kind of environment let alone do anything suspicious. Besides, Akame was never known for her intelligence.

Akame must have had just been blending in to survive.

Leone nodded her head before placing a hand on Akame's shoulder.

"It's been hard, hasn't it?" Leone ruffled Akame's hair while Akame stared back blankly. "Don't worry, big sister's here. I'll think of a way out."

Akame did not know how to respond, therefore she didn't.

Leone placed a hand beneath her chin while idly pacing in the area around her. "Before escape, I'll first have to send a report to Najenda," she muttered.

Leone took off the bag that she was carrying on her back and began rummaging through it to produce an ink quill and blank paper. "There are too many things that are weird with this town. First, it's the people, then there's the abnormally strong military, and then there's even this absurd power to create more Teigu."

Leone had seen how Shirou had created his traced projectiles. There was no way that anyone would be able to convince her that those weapons were _not_ Teigu. Worse, Shirou had fired them callously like he was tossing out garbage.

She still shivered just thinking about it.

The shock had been enough to momentarily overwhelm her mind.

She just needed to time to compose herself.

Her hands were still trembling, but thankfully Akame either didn't notice or just wasn't calling her out on it.

Pressing the writing quill down on the paper, she clicked her tongue when she pushed down too hard and broke the tip. It would seem that she needed some more time before she could settle herself down. Her senses were presently too frayed for her to gauge her own strength.

"Sorry, Akame," Leone apologized while trying to play off her blunder. "I broke the quill so I'll have to go back for a bit and get a new one."

Leone packed her stuff and made to leave in the direction of Calla, but froze when she noticed Akame barring her path.

Leone had a vague feeling that something wasn't quite right. A trace of denial began welling up from within her, but she refused to acknowledge her inner thoughts.

It was already weird that Akame was calling Shirou's name out as if they were more than just acquaintances. More than that, wasn't it weird in and out of itself that Akame seemed to be well known in town?

No.

Leone subconsciously refused to acknowledge it.

"Akame? C'mon, what are you doing?" Leone laughed hollowly, the smile on her face strained. "If your hungry and you smelled the food in my bag then you can have it. I swear."

Akame didn't answer. She just remained standing where she was.

"Akame? This really isn't the time. I have to go."

Leone moved to step passed Akame, but she tensed the moment that Akame drew out her sword.

Akame's lips were moving, and it was only when Leone craned her ears to listen, did she hear what Akame was saying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Akame just kept apologizing under her breath.

The current situation could not be anymore clear with Murasame pointed in Leone's direction.

Betrayal.

"Akame, you can't be serious?" Denial was evident in Leone's tone.

Akame looked visibly struck, the colouration of her cheeks shifting from a rosy hue to a pallid white.

"I can't let you send those reports." Akame found the words difficult to force out of her mouth.

"Then you'd kill me?" Leone's mouth trembled in disbelief, her body getting into a ready stance.

Akame shook her head. Holding Murasame out in front of her, she directly tossed it aside, leaving Leone baffled. In terms of capabilities, Leone was several degrees more adept at physical combat than armed combat compared to Akame.

Akame tossing away her sword was the same as saying that she wouldn't fight.

The two friends stared at each other in silence.

"You know that you can't beat me like this," Leone said slowly.

"I know, but I don't want to hurt you," Akame's response was firm. Leone could tell that Akame really wasn't lying. "I don't want to kill my friend."

"Then hurry and move." _Do you think I want to hurt or kill you either?_

Leone was visibly distressed. Beads of sweat forming over her brow and trailing down towards her chin. She'd always been the big sister, regarding those close to her as family. First in the slums when she took care of the other orphans, and even now in Night Raid, she'd always been the same. To harm someone that she viewed as family was like twisting a knife in her gut.

_Please._

_Just move._

Leone looked at Akame pleadingly, and yet nothing changed.

"I can't do that." Akame did not relent.

There really was no other choice left.

Leone cut herself away from her emotions, and sucked in a breath even though she felt like a part of herself was dying inside. Likewise, Akame took on a basic fighting stance, her arms raised and her legs spaced with her shoulders.

A fight was inevitable.

Although Akame preferred using a sword, it didn't mean that she was untrained in unarmed combat.

The grass swayed between the two, before dirt erupted out in a shower of dust from where they kicked off the ground.

Leone's heart was not in her blows, but it didn't mean that her attacks weren't damaging even without using her Teigu. Her Teigu was a belt known as Lionel which enhanced her speed, reflexes, strength, and regeneration.

In regards to her current fight, Leone didn't even need to use it.

Her eyes narrowed while following the trajectory of Akame's punches while she swerved in and out of them.

The difference in close-combat fighting standards was really too much for any skill to compensate.

Leone punched forward and jabbed Akame in the side, forcing Akame to recoil with a grimace.

_'You can't win.'_

Arms flew, and legs struck out in blurs too fast for the average man to see.

Punch.

Parry.

Counter.

Leone planted her heels down and pivoted while raising her leg out in a kick.

Her strength was simply not something to scoff at. Wind whipped her clothing back due to sheer speed and precision alone.

"Agh!" Akame dry heaved as the attack struck her on the waist.

_'Enough. Stop this already.'_

Twisting, Leone's body moved on autopilot and sent out a secondary kick on the opposite side.

Reacting quickly, Akame raised up a feeble guard which shattered upon making contact with Leone's shin. It was almost like blowing down straws with how little resistance there was.

This wasn't a fight.

This was a beating.

Akame did not have the ability to even attack at this point. She was entirely blown away and struck her back against a distant tree. Things would have had been different if she was using a blade or was fighting to her strengths. Right now though, rather than using her small build for quick strikes, she had chosen to directly trade blows with Leone as if to convey a point.

' _What did you find that's so important in this town to risk self harm?'_

Leone had enough.

She found an opening and punched Akame's stomach. Hard.

"Stay down."

Akame buckled, and collapsed onto her knees, unable to properly gather air into her lungs. She was spluttering.

Leone looked grief stricken and turned her face to walk away.

However, Leone soon heard the sound of scuffling behind her.

 _'Why won't you stay down! I don't want to kill you.'_ Leone inwardly lamented.

Gritting her teeth, Akame pushed up with her hands and shakily stood up on her feet. Bruises lined both her arms and legs with a light shade of purple, and the sight caused guilt to well within Leone.

Leone shuddered, her body freezing.

Why? She couldn't understand just where Akame was getting her resolve from.

In her moment of hesitation, Akame directly grappled her, pushing them both onto the ground.

It was a mistake.

Leone straddled Akame with her legs, keeping Akame pinned down beneath her.

A fist was raised.

Bruised and breathing heavily, Akame could only watch as Leone's fist descended and slowed millimetres away from crushing her face. Leone was trembling, her breathing erratic.

_'I can't. I can't do it.'_

The line separating Leone's emotions from her actions frayed.

"WHYY!" The punch landed beside Akame's head, cratering the ground from its destructive might. Akame pursed her lips.

"WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME DO THIS!" Leone felt a lump forming in her throat, her left hand lifted in a striking posture yet unable to come down. Her strength was leaving her due to her unwillingness.

"Because I saw a future!" Akame pushed herself up, kicking out Leone's legs and reversing their positions so that she was now on top. "Don't tell me that you didn't see it!"

Leone's breath hitched, before she turned away.

Akame didn't let her.

Leone was by far stronger than Akame, but at this moment, Akame was pinning Leone's arms down to the ground while staring her in the face.

"You've seen what kind of place Calla is!" Akame was panting for breath. "Enough with the lies Leone!"

Leone shuddered. She already knew.

A place like Calla, if it weren't the Revolutionary Army that found her first, and she had instead found Calla, what kind of future would she have had?

The people did not hunger.

The people did not struggle alone, but together.

"I saw a future without corruption, without hate, nor despair, and your asking me why I'd stand opposed?" Akame's lips quivered, showing the most emotion that Leone had ever seen on Akame's face.

"It's hard Leone. I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt any of our comrades either, but I can't just do nothing!" Akame pressed her eyes tight before opening them, bloodshot. "I saw a future. I saw _hope_! And even just a little spark of hope was enough to cling onto."

Leone had no response. How could she not understand what Akame was saying?

Many times, in Leone's life in the Empire's slums she and many around her would starve while the weaker would die. What else did they have to rely on other than hope that the future would be better? That she would no longer have to scrounge through rotten garbage, nor shiver in the cold trying to draw warmth from stiff cardboard.

She wanted change. That was why Leone fought and opposed the Empire.

"Stop Leone. Please." Akame bowed her head. "I don't want to fight you."

_This was stupid._

Leone felt her energy completely leave her body, a sigh escaping her lips. Akame was asking her not to send in the reports. However, not sending in the reports meant the same as forsaking Night Raid and the Revolutionary Army.

Her past.

Her present.

Deep down, Leone already knew what she truly wanted.

"Tch," she clicked her tongue, pushing Akame off of her to stand up on her feet.

Weakened from the punches that she'd sustained, Akame could do nothing to resist Leone's action and toppled to the ground.

Leone stood in front of Akame, a hand scratching the back of her head while her brows knit together. She crossed her arms.

"Convince me," Leone spoke flatly. "What future did you see?"

Akame rolled onto her back, her chest heaving up and down.

Leone sat beside her, pulling up her thighs and hugging her arms around her knees. Just as Akame did not want to oppose her friends and allies, Leone was even more so. She'd hit Akame, but never with enough strength to actually injure. It was on the level of a regular spar.

"A bright one," Akame said, raising an arm out in front of her and seemingly grasping up at the clouds above. "One day, Calla will grow and expand outwards. Calla, a home for the weary, the poor, and those sick of the constant fighting, betrayals, and deceit."

Leone listened quietly.

"A just ruler, supportive people, and the power necessary to protect them, Calla has it all, but it needs time to grow." Akame forced herself up, siting over her legs. "The people will show the result. To win a war, yet not have to fight a single battle by winning the acknowledgment of the masses, that is Calla. That was Shirou's answer to oppose the Empire."

It was the most Leone had ever seen Akame speak outside of a mission. Then again, it showed just how much faith Akame had.

"This Shirou person comes up with wise words, but still," Leone impatiently tapped her arm with her fingers. "It's too slow. Many people are already dying in the Empire, and the longer we wait, the more of them will perish. Why doesn't Calla just ally with the Revolutionary Army and take down the Empire?"

With the power that Shirou had displayed, Leone was convinced that her suggestion was the best decision.

"But whose to say that the Revolutionary Army doesn't have its own corrupt figures?" Akame rebuked.

"…" It was a fair point, but anything was better than the rule of the Prime Minister Honest.

Leone sighed.

"But there is one thing I do agree with you on," Akame looked back in the direction of Calla. "Shirou's plan is too slow. If he just realized how many capable people he had in Calla and mobilized them, he'd have one of the strongest armies on the continent."

Leone understood what Akame meant. Calla was a town teeming with reclusive powerhouses.

"Why don't you just tell him then?" Leone questioned.

"The town's people are opposed to it," Akame winced while rubbing at a sore spot over her arm.

"Sorry," Leone apologized quickly, knowing that she'd probably hit too hard.

"No need for apology. I deserve it for deserting the team without even a notice."

"Damn well worried the hell out of me," Leone rubbed her nose. "Moving back to the topic though, what do you mean by the town's people are opposed to it?"

Akame opened her mouth to speak, but found that she really didn't have an explanation. It was weird. Rather than having Shirou do everything by himself, why didn't they show that they'd be of use to him?

"I don't know, they just are," Akame's lips thinned. "Meanwhile, Shirou works harder and harder every day. I can't help but imagine how different the Empire would have been if it had someone like Shirou as its leader."

Leone raised a brow and glanced skeptically in Akame's direction. "You really have a high opinion of Shirou don't you?"

A tinge of red made its way onto Akame's cheeks, but she didn't deny Leone's words. Everything that she'd seen and experienced Shirou doing was admirable. Respect was given where it was due.

The two Assassins fell back into silence before Leone eventually relented.

"Fine, you win," Leone rubbed at her temples. There was no way that she could bring herself to kill Akame. Furthermore, based on how determined Akame was, Leone knew that Akame wouldn't stop obstructing her until she died. "I won't send any reports to the Revolutionary Army, but I will make contact with Najenda and the others eventually. It's not fair to worry them or leave them in the dark."

Akame mulled over Leone's words, and reluctantly agreed.

With the most pressing issue resolved, Akame and Leone stood up to return to Calla, but stiffened when they heard the sounds of a large group of people marching.

By the time the two could react, it was too late.

A Guerilla Unit of men and women appeared within their sight wearing an unmistakable symbol over their military uniforms.

The crest of the Red Dragon curled around a shield.

An Emblem of the Empire.

Empire Forces?

Akame couldn't understand how they had gotten inside, but she quickly grabbed Murasame from the ground and readied herself. Leone acted in kind.

The Empire's forces were near the two in seconds, but before any kind of fight could break out, Akame recognized one of the uniformed figures.

"Raiga?"

"Akame?"

The two stared at each other in disbelief, before Raiga let out a wry smile and gestured for the other people behind him to be at ease. Akame was well known to be Shirou's personal aide and body guard.

Leone stared from Raiga and Akame, and then back. Since when was Akame friendly with anyone from the Empire?

Raiga stepped forward.

"Well, it was about time you found out the truth anyway," Raiga reasoned before eyeing Leone. "Is your friend trustworthy?"

Raiga had reason to be skeptical. While Akame stood bruised and beaten, there was only one other person present in the area that could have had been the assailant.

Still, Akame vouched on Leone's behalf. "She's faithful to her friends."

Leone closed her mouth, feeling like Akame was trying to guilt her into not reporting this issue to Najenda and the rest. It was working.

Raiga gestured to the trunk of a fallen tree.

"Take a seat, this could be a while," he explained.

* * *

In the inner chambers of the government building at the center of the Empire, the tension in the air was palpable. A grand throne was located in the middle of the room with a red carpet that flowed down from the steps to make an official walkway.

The veteran solider that had been leading the unit of scouts against Calla was kneeling on the ground while facing the throne. The man's body was slumped, and the general air of confidence that the man once had previously was shattered.

"Are you certain that what you saw was correct?" A gentle, yet boisterous voice resounded in the grand hall.

"Yes. I would never fail to recognize the symbol of the First Emperor's standard. It was an official symbol of the Royal Family."

The young boy seated on the Emperor's throne had a look of shock come over his face. This was the current Emperor of the Empire simply known as the 'The Emperor.' He was of average height and had green shoulder-length hair and eyes. He wore a blue mantle and a fan-shaped headdress over his head.

"Does that mean I have relatives?" The child Emperor voiced it as a question towards the man who'd spoken for clarification, the prime Minister, Honest.

Honest did not speak. He was well aware that the veteran soldier in front of him was not lying, but this did not bode well for him. Relatives to the Emperor, meant competitions of legitimacy and potential power struggles for the throne, all of which would break the current status quo.

"If true, then yes, my Emperor," Honest bowed low to hide the expressionlessness face that he was currently making. "However, we can't be quick to just jump to conclusions."

"O, okay." The Emperor nodded his head after a moment of thought. The trust that the Emperor had put in Honest was built upon numerous years of Honest's manipulation.

Honest was the child Emperor's Advisor, therefore, the Emperor always heeded Honest's words due to a lack of confidence in his own abilities. He was still a child after all.

"Then how will we verify?" The child Emperor was increasingly interested in this matter. He was always lonely in the palace after his father's passing. He didn't say it yet, but the Emperor was already imagining a near future where he'd be spending time in the company of cousins.

"Leave this matter to me. I'll be sure to deal with it swiftly," Honest said confidently. "For now, I think it's best if you return to your studies in your room. The teacher's probably already waiting for you. Only when you've understood the Empire's politics can you rule justly for the people."

The Emperor frowned, but didn't question Honest's advice before leaving the room.

As soon as the Emperor left, the veteran soldier felt a chill travel down his back. He looked up towards Honest to see an utterly blank, yet vicious face staring back at him.

This was the true personality of the 'kind' Prime Minister, Honest.

"How certain are you that the symbol you saw was authentic?"

"Fully," the veteran replied curtly. "Although the symbol of the First Emperor's standard is well known, it's difficult to imitate properly due to certain minute details in its design. The only ones who'd spot said details are those who posses a legitimate symbol to observe and reproduce onto military uniform."

The veteran was looking directly at Honest to convey a point.

"This means that even if the symbols of the attackers that I encountered were forged, somewhere and someway, they truly do possess the genuine article."

The standard of the First Emperor was the symbol of the members of the Royal Family itself. The only one known to still be present in the Empire was the one inherited by the Child Emperor and kept stored away.

"How troublesome," Honest began to pace up near the throne.

"Judging from a lack of response after sending numerous scouts, the entity behind the steel walls is most likely a passive opponent rather than aggressive. A bee will not sting if not provoked." Honest was mumbling to himself before pausing. "I'll temporarily pull back the Empire's forces and have the scholars and scribes look into what's left of the Empire's history while amassing an army. I'll dig up everything that I can find that's relevant and then burn it to rid all evidence."

"Evidence," Honest curled the word over his lips before shifting his attention.

The veteran still kneeling inside the throne room felt an odd pressure descend over his shoulders.

"You're the only one who's aware of the information regarding the symbol of the First Emperor correct?"

The veteran looked up at Honest, but didn't notice any changes worth noting.

"Yes sir. Due to the sensitivity of the matter, I had thought it was prudent as an experienced scout to directly report this to you and the Emperor. Should I have had made a formal report?"

"No," Honest began to smile. "Your professionalism is appreciated. It saves me the trouble so, please die for me."

Huh?

The veteran could not process what Honest was saying until a full second later when he felt a dagger pierce through his heart from behind. He died instantly by the blade of an assassin that Honest had signaled to with his eyes.

"Pity," Honest looked at the dead veteran's corpse before shrugging. "He was useful."

With a simple gesture, Honest had a palace guard dispose of the mess in the audience hall. He then immediately called for a gathering of the Empire's scholars and renowned scribes.

Once he'd found all the relevant information, there was only one thing left to do.

He had a new target to kill.

He'd worked too hard to get into his current position. He would not tolerate the notion of someone else other than the easily manipulated Child Emperor to take the throne.

Honest's priorities shifted entirely away from the Revolutionary Army and towards the mysteriousness of what laid behind the steel walls in a remote section of the Empire.

* * *

Akame walked uneasily on her way back to Shirou's residence, Leone having separated from Akame to return to her lodging near the people of Heiwa. Neither of the two had spoken simply because they were still digesting what it was that they'd just heard from Raiga's mouth. A simple statement that she still found difficult to fathom.

Shirou was a member of the Royal Family.

This changed everything. Forget just waiting for Calla to grow, Shirou had a legitimate right to the Emperor's throne. This was the main kicker for directly flushing away all of the doubts in Leone's mind regarding Calla.

However, this gave Akame all the more time to think.

Her feet carried her forward. By now, she could already see the distant outline of Shirou's house where he was probably working tirelessly again into the night.

He would make an ideal Emperor, someone that both the people and the officials could like. Moreover, under his rule, there would be no room for corruption.

She strongly believed that if it was Shirou, he could do it.

She thought back to the various townsfolk that she'd passed on her way, and recalled the single warning that Raiga had told her.

Even though Shirou was a member of the Royal Family, she was not allowed to let him know about it until he himself wished to vie for the position of Emperor. This was to say, Shirou himself had to have the goal of fighting it out with the current Empire and wrestling away control from the Prime Minister Honest.

The world outside of Calla's walls were filled with dangers and this condition was apparently the request of Shirou's father to all of the town's residents meant to keep Shirou in the dark. It was a last safety measure since Shirou's father knew that the only situation that would require facing the Empire would be a dire one.

A father's love could both be beneficial and selfish at the same time. In shielding one from the realities of the world through ignorance, it was the same as turning a blind eye to those in need.

Considering Shirou's current passive outlook, he wouldn't irrationally attack the Empire nor ask the townsfolk for any kind of help. Even less so because he was still of the assumption that Calla's townsfolk were ordinary civilians. He would not endanger them.

Akame bit down on her lower lip while contemplating.

Leone had been right about Shirou's plans for Calla taking too long.

She was convinced that if Shirou was just made the new Emperor in place of the Child Emperor, everything would work out. She had to think of a method to convince him.

Caught up in her musings, she eventually reached Shirou's house and made her way inside by climbing through the office window.

Shirou was there like she expected working over his desk under the dim light of an oil lamp.

He looked up at her as she entered, and paused in his work.

"What happened to you?" He asked her.

Of course, she still had multiple bruises from her 'spar' with Leone, and she winced as she sat down on a recliner.

"I fell," she replied curtly, unwilling to speak of the matter any further. Shirou could tell and dropped the subject.

He soon began working again while she just stared at him unblinking.

Shirou could determine that there was something off with her today, but he was too courteous to bring up the subject. It was all the more reason why someone like him should have had been in a position of power.

"Say," she suddenly spoke up nonchalantly as if talking about the weather. "Want to attack the Empire?"

"Did you go drinking today?" Shirou replied back, putting away the stuff on his desk to focus his attention on her. "You're not acting like yourself. Are you hungry again?"

"No to both," she responded with a glower before shaking her head to focus.

There were many thoughts going threw her mind, but she eventually came to a realization that just asking Shirou would get her nowhere. He wasn't that kind of person to begin with.

She knew him well enough to understand him, and that was why she came to a decision.

The world needed him. She couldn't just allow him to idle when others were already dying.

Age and experience had taken away Shirou impulsiveness, but one factor always remained the same.

Akame's features softened.

"If I was ever lost or hurt, would you save me?"

The question was so sudden and out of context that Shirou looked at her in bafflement, unable to understand what was coming over her.

Still, he answered truthfully.

"Yes," he said firmly. "I promise that if you were ever in trouble, I would not just stand by and do nothing."

"Even if it meant one life over many?" She lowered her head to glance at the ground.

"One or the other, I'd just save them all." Shirou stood up and placed a hand over Akame's forehead. Her temperature seemed about right though, so she definitely wasn't running a fever.

"You, you really are different," Akame weakly pushed aside Shirou's hand as if cementing her determination. "I'm glad I met you."

"And I'm glad that you stopped trying to kill me," Shirou thought back to all the chances that Akame had to actually kill him but didn't. "I suppose we're even then?"

That kind of answer, this was why the Empire needed someone like him rather than just a another civil movement or revolution.

Akame didn't reply but just smiled instead.

He'd save her.

_He promised._

That night, Akame left and was not seen again.

She had disappeared.


	13. Chapter 13

Akame was in the dark of the forest, her sense of direction largely obscured by the recurring patterns of trees and foliage that she found herself maneuvering through. Night under the canopy of the high trees was the same as treading through a pitch-black room filled with the hooting of owls, the skittering of wildlife, and the rustle of the leaves.

It didn't matter.

Her movements were swift and refined, her body moving on auto pilot. This wasn't the first time that she'd navigated through a forest in darkness. She'd faced worse back when she was still an untrained and ignorant girl sold into the Empire's Assassination program with her younger sister.

She wasted no energy, conserving her movements to the bare minimum to optimize her remaining reserves and save it in the case of emergency.

Her face was a mask of indifference, unmoving, and still like glass despite the weariness brewing in her eyes.

As calm and composed as she appeared on the surface, her mind was less so.

_Was this wrong?_

The direction of her choices, the outcomes that would be produced, would there be meaning?

She pursed her lips.

_Shirou._

_Royal Family._

Everything that she'd experienced since the start of a simple assassination assignment had effectively caused her to question everything. She hadn't felt such indecision since the time that Najenda had convinced her that siding with the Empire as an emotionless tool was not the way that she wanted to live her life.

Freedom.

Compassion.

Honesty.

Those were the principles of a world that she wouldn't hesitate to fight for, and she'd already _seen_ it.

Calla, the village named after a flower of New Beginnings was like none other before it.

The more that she thought back to the village, the more that her resolve waned. In truth, she never wanted to leave. For all intents and purposes, she felt like her actions and decisions were finally amounting to a purposeful cause.

For the first time, she'd felt…fulfilled.

The word took an entire second to register in her mind, and the urge to suddenly plant her feet in the ground, turn around, and then run back to that familiar place in her heart, nearly overwhelmed her.

Shirou would not ask her where she'd gone, merely nod in her direction without suspicion nor inquiry.

She in response would stoically take her place behind him as a guard.

The sights that she'd seen.

The people who greeted her on a daily basis and urged her to take care of Shirou's safety.

All of it was playing through her mind and breaking her professionalism as an assassin. It almost made her feel human, an emotion she'd never considered thinking about again after the numerous people that she'd already killed.

A sinner. A Murderer. That was who she, and it would never change.

And yet, the images of people smiling at her within Calla's streets manifested in her thoughts. They encouraged her to work hard, gave her food when she was hungry, and earnestly thanked her when she'd return with hunted food in turn. Hell, she'd even gotten used to the town's children climbing up her legs and pulling on her cheeks to garner a reaction from her. Artus and Anna, Shirou's siblings, were much the same in that regard.

The innocence and trust found within Calla were a far cry from the injustices of the Capital.

She really didn't want to leave.

This was bad.

She was wavering.

Akame paused in her movements while traversing the forest outside Calla's walls, her feet lightly landing on the ground beneath her. She stood still; a hand pressed to her forehead as her gaze tilted up to stare at the soft glow of the moon-light peaking through the overhead vegetation above.

Memories would only be cherished and thought fondly of after the fact.

They were hard to abandon not because they were difficult to stow away, but because it was heart wrenching to do so. Given a choice, she probably never would have had given up her new found life without a violent struggle. The best example was Leone.

To protect Calla and the people within it, Akame had even gone as far as to confront her long-time friend into a standstill.

The fact that she'd managed to convince Leone to not expose Calla's secrets to the Revolutionary Army should have had been an achievement worth celebrating. However, things changed in the process of doing so after she discovered what sort of heritage Shirou possessed.

_Emperor._

He was the only Emperor in her mind.

A leader that thought not just for himself but for the sake of those relying on him was what a real leader should have had been.

The credibility that Shirou had towards the throne was the crucial factor to everything. It was a right of Kingship that was impossible for her to ignore. If given the chance, it was a revelation that would alter the entire foundations of the current Empire.

If she had remained ignorant to the information, then perhaps she wouldn't have had done anything. The path that Shirou was taking would no doubt bear solid results in time, and she was fine with that. However, when compared to the effectiveness of ascending the throne? There was just no comparison.

How many more people could be saved if a war with the Empire was avoided by having Shirou declare his right to rule as a blood-related member of the Royal Family?

Akame was no idealist, but she'd long since grown sick and tired of the constant betrayals and evils of the world outside of Calla's walls. Now that she had experienced what it was like to live a life without fear of tyranny and injustice, how could she not wish to fight and spread the feeling to others in despair?

Just as Shirou had said before, 'it's not wrong to save others,' and that was enough.

He had shown her the beauty of trust, faith, and belief.

Akame balled her hands into fists.

She didn't need any other reason.

Akame steadied her breathing. She'd been travelling alone since she'd left Shirou's house back in Calla, and only now was she resting.

Dragging her feet over to a toppled tree, she sat down over the trunk and began collecting her thoughts to stay focused.

Shirou said that he'd 'save her' like she'd asked a redundant question. Worse, he was entirely serious, and that did funny things to her heart that she could not explain.

No matter what, those words brought warmth to her empty being. It was the first time that she'd ever heard anyone speak with such sincerity to an assassin, and for a moment, it had almost rendered her into inaction.

If he'd asked her to stay, or pried into what she was planning, would she have had been able to refuse giving an explanation?

Akame didn't know.

She sighed while resting within the silence of the woods.

His promise was not intended to lure Shirou into a confrontation with the Empire, but for her use as mental support. It was reassurance in all senses of the word.

Right now, she was intending on fighting alone.

Within the darkness, the dim light of the moon reflected off of the steel edge of her Murasame sword which she was in the process of maintaining.

If it was for him, then she could have a reason to further sully her hands with blood. She didn't want to taint Shirou by exposing him to the decrepit world that she lived in. Calla's walls were as much of a divider as they were a simple structure of defense.

If Calla within the walls was the oasis in a wasteland, then the world outside threatening to do it harm was the vast desert that she grew up within.

She was strong. She had to be in order to survive.

In which case, even by herself, she should be able to make a difference.

Time was what Shirou needed for Calla to flourish.

She would be the one to buy that time.

If she were to be captured or killed in the process, then so be it. She welcomed it.

She did not know what sort of place that she held in Shirou's world, but if there was one thing that she knew about him, it was that she _trusted_ him. It was a foreign concept, but oddly enough, it brought her no end of comfort.

If it was him, then he would definitely take action.

If her life could bring about a major change for the good, then all the better.

Time passed on.

She sheathed her blade.

Her body had rested enough. It was time to move out again.

Yet, in the darkness of the shadows, as she readied herself, she suddenly tensed as her ears perked up in alarm. She'd heard a familiar noise, high pitched and panicked.

A scream.

She may have had ignored it at any other instance, but Shirou's influence had rubbed off on her. Besides, she was still near Calla's borders so if there was trouble, the least she could do was check up on it.

Her decision made, her feet carried her forward until she reached the edge of a clearing while perched atop a tall tree.

She narrowed her eyes.

What was this?

Her gaze shifted left then right, taking a quick estimate of the number of individuals that had set camp within the moon-lit clearing. There were hundreds of them, and based on their clothing, they originated from the states of Wakoku.

Hageshi?

The first thought in her mind was the tension that Shirou had sown in the past. However, rather than just the people of Hageshi, there were other states of Wakuku currently in the field. All of them warrior states.

A coalition?

The Warriors of Wakoku were far more than Akame could have had ever expected.

She couldn't understand it. She'd been to Wakoku before and she refused to believe that the headstrong leaders of the various states could ever band together.

Her lips curled downwards, her brows creasing in confusion.

While scrutinizing the scene in front of her, she heard the scream again which snapped her out of her musings. The best way to find answers was not to make assumptions, but to investigate.

Her attention shifted, she nimbly hopped from tree to tree without so much as a sound.

She had moved away from the main area by the clearing and was now staring at a secluded part of the camp.

In front of her, armed men and women were detaining several groups of travellers who were a mix of the Empire and Wakoku's common folk.

Akame frowned. Judging in the direction that the people were travelling, she had no doubts that their intended destination had been the village of Calla.

"Stop, enough!" Two young men stood protectively in front of a black-haired girl who'd gotten shoved to the ground after trying to make her way out of the encirclement. "What do you bandits want anyway? If it's money or food, then we don't have any!"

The words of one of the young men where chorused by the other people similarly being detained in the encirclement.

The warriors of Wakoku remained firm. They didn't even speak.

The young men helped the girl up and moved to argue further, but were stopped by the common folk of Wakoku who more or less understood what was going on.

"It's no use. They don't want money or food, but labour," an old woman from Wakoku elaborated. "Too many people from both the Empire and Wokoku have began to migrate, and it would seem that Wakoku was the first to notice."

The old woman glared at the warriors of Wakoku near her. "What's the use of ruling a country without people? The reasoning is that simple."

Akame and the young man bristled at the information. The young man's name was Ieyasu, a young man from a poor village near the outskirts of the Empire.

"But none of us are even from Wakoku," Ieyasu gestured towards himself and his friends before growing angered. "Tatsumi, Saya, let's go. I'm sure that they'll release us if we just explain that we were only travelling along with this group."

Tatsumi and Saya were from the same village as Ieyasu. The three were good friends.

The old woman shook her head. "Does it matter?" The old woman did not direct her question at Tatsumi and the others, but towards their detainers.

"Capture them," the lead warrior of Wakoku coldly issued out the order.

Tatsumi, Ieyasu, and Sayo paled. The three of them were strong warriors in their own right who could face off against even Danger beasts. However, it was one thing to confront just a single individual, but to face an entire trained group on their own was impossible.

"T-This can't be happening. We still haven't even helped the village yet," Sayo trembled as she unsheathed her daggers and pointed them towards the Warrior's of Wakoku drawing in towards her. Tatsumi and Ieyasu were no different. Sayo swallowed audibly. "We've followed the rumours of a land with fertile fields and plentiful food and water. I-It wasn't supposed to end like this."

"That's why it won't."

A voice abruptly spoke in the darkness, the clinking of a drawn sword echoing throughout.

A silent blade. A cold blade of the damned.

One cut meant death.

_The First Act, the beginning._

Up, down, left, right, everything was but a blur as a shadow slipped out from the trees and exploded into action. Feet planted into the ground, pivoting before pushing off with unprecedented mobility.

Red eyes.

The deep hue of crimson illuminated under the moon.

_The Second Act, the start of grief._

Fingers wrapped around a worn hilt, gripping fiercely; a body dipping low before kicking off into high gear.

The butt of a sword smacked against the skull of an enemy, dazing them and forcing them to tumble back before a red line manifested over the individual's neck. The man toppled over, dead.

The rest were no different.

It was a flurry of precise strikes, all meant to kill.

_Third Act-_

Akame paused mid swing. There was already no one left. Those that had chosen to escape had already been cut by Murasame's edge.

She sheathed her sword and pointed in a certain direction under the dazed expressions of the people staring at her.

"Calla," she said softly. "Calla is that way."

She turned to leave, but paused after some consideration. "Run, it won't be long before more come," she warned them.

"Wait, are you actually planning to stay behind?" Tatsumi called out while pushing his way through the crowd.

Akame need not answer. She just stared back impassively. It was an obvious question.

"Why did you help us?"

This question was less so.

Sayo and many others looked at Akame in confusion. Many of them had already recognized her as the criminal in the wanted posters, and yet, she was different from how she was described. At the very least, the image of the impassive murderer drawn on the poster held nothing to the expression in Akame's clear eyes.

There was warmth, conviction.

Shirou had shown her that there was more to the world than killing and putting an end to the Prime Minister's corruption. After all, what was there to fight for after that? The cycle would surely repeat and a new 'Prime Minister' would eventually come into power.

Akame knew this.

Everyone knew this at least on some level.

However, Shirou thought differently.

In a society where a stranger was more likely to backstab you rather than aid you, he still held out his hand to others. If he was made Emperor, surely, his line of descendants would not fall into strife or power struggles.

In fact, she could picture him casting away the title of Emperor in the first place to establish a new form of Government for the people.

That was the kind of person that Shirou was.

If she was the darkness, then he was the light that she was chasing after.

"Does there need to be a reason?" She was always short on words. She never preferred talking to begin with so it felt weird for her to talk to a crowd, but her voice came out strong regardless.

"It's not wrong to help others," _because I myself was saved._ Her lips subconsciously curled upwards into small smile.

From a certain perspective, Akame was a tool of war to eliminate high-profile political and military figures. She was empty, hollow, but fighting for a purpose that she had thought that she had believed was right.

Now though, it was different.

She was fighting not for the Revolutionary Army, but for herself.

"It's not wrong to help others?" Sayo and the people around her echoed Akame's words and looked at her as if they were truly seeing her for the first time.

It caused Akame's face to redden. Those weren't her words to begin with. She shook her head and composed herself. "Hurry and go. You're all wasting time."

"Wait, we can fight too," Ieyasu offered up his help. "If you helped us for no other reason than to help, then there's no way that we just abandon you."

"He's right," Tatsumi gripped his sword tighter and straightened his back. "We're plenty strong."

"No."

Akame flat out denied them and directly turned to leave before they could get another word in.

Tatsumi and the others wouldn't be helping by staying behind anyway. They weren't strong enough and she had no intention of openly confronting the enemy.

She was an Assassin.

A silent killer.

Given the situation, it was better to work alone. "Go." She gave one last reminder before darting through the foliage and out of sight. Left alone, Tatsumi and the others had no choice but to leave under the urging of the others.

Up in the trees, Akame was creating a plan of action.

The warriors of Wakoku were forcibly keeping travelers away from Calla and capturing them. There was no way that she could leave this matter alone.

Since there were too many of them, she'd do what she did best.

Kill the leaders.

Considering the large number of enemies that she'd have to bypass though, her expression fell.

This was going to be a long operation.

* * *

The Empire's scouting troops had not made another reappearance in days, making it safe for Shirou to assume that the Empire was temporarily pulling back its forces. That meant that the only troops he had to concern himself over were from Wakoku and the Revolutionary Army.

He was sitting while leaning forward onto his desk. A stack of papers that he'd neatly piled up were in his hands, and he was organizing them one by one into separate stacks based on priority.

Management was truly a tedious job.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to concentrate to little effect.

Administrative duties and needless paperwork aside, it was oddly disconcerting to not have a silent shadow trailing behind him anymore.

His eyes wandered towards the vacant chair in the corner before shifting to the plate of food left untouched by his desk. Akame had always come in early and enjoyed pilfering his food storage. It had something to do with her competitive edge in regards to cooking. She ate all of his dishes on the notion that she was trying to learn his 'secret' regarding culinary arts.

It felt sort of empty without her.

A part of him could already picture Akame munching on a piece of dried fish while waiting for him to finish his paper work in order to head into town.

He didn't know where Akame had gone. He'd never asked that night because he had assumed that Akame would be back by the morning.

It wasn't the case.

He put away his papers and leaned his back into the chair.

_Where are you?_

Shirou had been with Akame long enough to get to know her already. There was no way that she would just up and leave without telling him. Moreover, the only thing he'd found that Akame had left behind, was a small note asking to take care of a friend of hers named, Leone.

He read the note several times, but still found no other clues as to what Akame had been thinking.

A dead end had been reached, and there was no solution in sight.

The question now was simple. What should he do?

There was no way that he was just going to give up on Akame when she hadn't even explained anything before leaving. What if something had occurred without his knowledge, and to protect him, she'd gone off on her own?

He couldn't just put the matter aside, nor could he act recklessly either.

Shirou stood up from his chair, and decided to start by contacting his only clue: The woman that Akame asked him to look after, Leone.

Marked on the note that Akame had left behind was the address of Leone's current residence. She was officially renting a room within a local inn, but in actual fact, she spent more of her time near the woods training. At least, that's what Akame's note said.

With nothing better to do, Shirou set off looking for answers.

Life in Calla was different from everywhere else, and news of it was only growing stronger within the nation's undercurrents.

Shirou had no intention of stopping people from coming. The more people that he could help, the better.

The walk through Calla's streets was far livelier than Shirou could have had ever imagined. The new immigrants that migrated from all parts of the world found exactly what they were looking for in regards to open housing and sufficient food to raise their children. Not only that, but the new arrivals were emotionally moved by Calla's welcoming atmosphere. Even hardened thieves and crooks broke down in tears when they had tried to steal something, failed, and then got off with a loaf of bread and a kind gesture to persevere through the hard times.

"…"

In fact, he was looking at an identical case right now.

"You look thinner than normal. Here, take another. I still have plenty."

The woman who had tried to steal from a vendor hawking his wares began trembling in disbelief. From her expression and demeanor, she was definitely part of the new arrivals. Dumbfounded, the woman silently began sobbing when the vendor offered her another product.

At the place where Shirou was standing, he could see a little girl clinging onto the woman's leg. She too looked starved. That was probably why the vendor had offered more.

This situation was perfectly alright for Shirou. The fact the vendor could offer his wares for free, could only mean that the man was not in need of any extra money or food. What the vendor was doing represented a new concept taking root from within Calla.

It was notion called Charity.

When one had more than enough a staple good, then there was no harm in sharing it with others less fortunate. Besides, for many vendor and people, the inexplicable giddiness that they obtained from seeing the heartfelt expressions of those that they helped was enough of a payment.

"Sorry, I-I'm so sorry," the woman who had tried to steal broke down into apologies, her child joining her.

The vendor only smiled and did nothing back.

That was all that Shirou had seen before he continued on, and it was one of the many reasons that Shirou wished to protect Calla from harm.

This peace was worth fighting for.

Akame had definitely felt the same way which was all the more reason that he couldn't understand why she'd disappeared.

It wasn't in her character.

Leone was still his only lead. Therefore, without another moment's hesitation, he directly made his way towards the location where Akame noted that Leone would be.

Low and behold, he found her, but he hadn't exactly been expecting a familiar face.

It was the woman who nearly had nearly suffocated him on their first meeting.

He found her training in the back of the woods near the inn that she was renting owned by the people of Heiwa who built it.

If he was feeling slightly awkward right now, then Leone was a mix of apprehension, disbelief, and caution.

The way that she looked at him made it seem like she didn't know whether or not he was monster, or royalty. It was a blend of the two.

"Hi there," he called out to her.

"Hi," her response looked rather stiff, but she was quick to keep her composure. "Where's Akame? She told me that she acts as your bodyguard."

"Well, actually, now that you bring it up," he scratched the back of his head. "I was hoping that you would know. She's been gone for a couple of days now."

Leone's eyes sharpened in disbelief. "She's what?"

"She's gone," he repeated. "I haven't seen her around town in days."

The information seemed to throw Leone for a loop. She looked floored, her mouth opening and closing before settling into a deep frown. "This doesn't make any sense," she muttered to herself before creasing her brows and crossing her arms.

"Have you tried looking for her?" She asked. "I'd start looking myself, but I'm still not accustomed to everything in town yet."

"I'm looking for her right now," Shirou admitted.

No matter how he thought about it though, Akame wasn't around. He'd already asked the townsfolk the previous day, and none of them had seen Akame either.

"I'll help look," Leone immediately volunteered.

Leone was worried. Shirou could tell by the minor trembling of her shoulders. He did not refuse her offer.

The two directly went back into Calla to begin their search.

"Not here,"

"Not here either."

The two didn't spend much time talking. Instead, they moved to cover as much ground as possible.

As expected of a friend of Akame, but Leone's movements and reconnaissance gathering skills were excellent. She only needed a scant few minutes to determine whether or not Akame was in a certain area. Shirou in comparison felt like he was grabbing at straws. He wasn't nearly as experienced in this field of work.

"Damn it, Akame. There's no way you could have had just up and left," Leone was biting on her lip, a hand placed beneath her chin as she began pacing. "I knew that something was wrong with you when you started acting funny. Damn it all."

Leone's concern was genuine, and despite the situation, Shirou couldn't help but feel heartened at the fact that Akame had a good friend.

Still, no results meant that they had no leads.

Shirou and Leone found themselves resting by Calla's entrance, just a short distance away from the constant flow of migrants passing through the front gates.

"We can't give up. I won't give up on her." Tired as Shirou felt, he had no intention of stopping.

Leone could only stare. Different from her, Shirou had only known Akame for a period of a couple of months. It didn't make sense for him to be this committed, it was subtly changing her impression of him. He didn't seem like that bad of a guy despite how terrifying his power was.

Leone kept her thoughts to herself.

"We've already searched through the entire village. She's not here," Leone advised in frustration.

"Even still. I have to at least keep trying."

Leone blinked. "Why?" The word slipped out of her mouth.

Shirou stared back at Leone, their gazes meeting. "She's my friend. If she's in trouble, do I need any other reason to help her?"

"Dunno," a light flashed in Leone's eyes. She uncrossed her arms and nonchalantly placed her hands into her pockets. "Friends these days are more likely to backstab, so it's hard to say."

"Then they weren't friends to begin with," Shirou didn't even think before answering.

"Fair point," Leone fell silent, absently kicking at the dirt beneath her feet. "Say, you're the leader of Calla, right?"

"You could say so," Shirou didn't pay much attention. He was still busy looking for any signs of black hair and red eyes in the passing crowd.

"Calla's a nice place," Leone began to follow Shirou's example and help look for Akame once more. "I've never seen so many people smiling before. Rather than that, I've never seen so many people look so happy."

"A leader's duty is to provide and care for his or her subjects. A selfless rule," Shirou fell into reminiscence. He once knew a certain King that was perhaps the greatest of all. Her reign was in an era of war and invasion. "It's the people that make the nation, not the individuals in power."

"Oh," Leone suddenly fell silent.

Shirou didn't know what Leone was thinking about, but there was no way that he missed the way that she was idly glancing at him. She was sighing wistfully, and he simply didn't know why.

"I guess I can see what Akame saw in you," Leone's muttered to herself.

Shirou was too far away to hear and instead only saw Leone wink at him for reasons unknown.

Women were always hard to read or understand. Regardless, the two were quickly getting nowhere again until a chance coincidence.

"Thank goodness we got away from those people. Were you guys saved by that woman from Night Raid too?"

Shirou's ears perked up, his muscles growing taught.

Leone was even more so.

"Oi Oi! Who just said that!" Leone straightforwardly yelled into the crowd. Naturally no one answered her because of how intimidating she looked in her haste.

Shirou though was different. "Might I ask someone to elaborate?"

Shirou was a saint in the eyes of the migrants who opened up Calla's lands and resources for those in need of aid.

It didn't take long to get a response.

"I-I think I know who everyone's talking about," a youth with unkempt brown hair pushed his way though the crowd. It was Tatsumi, and following him were Ieyasu and Sayo. "We didn't know who she was at first, but once we saw her poster in town a few days ago, we found out that it was Night Raid's Akame."

"What exactly is going on?" Leone tried to press for an answer, but the people around her weren't very helpful when they tried to talk over each other.

"Fighting, she was fighting," Tatsumi continued. "There was an old woman that could probably explain the situation better than any of us."

Tatsumi, Sayo, and Ieyasu gestured for an older woman of Wakoku to give an explanation.

The vast migration of Wakoku's common people had ruined the balance between the warring states. Rather than fight each other for land, the warring states now had to take measures against the migration of its own people.

Leone's eyes soon became bloodshot.

Shirou was no better.

He knew that there was something wrong.

Akame was fighting on her own.

* * *

Shirou was back in his study with a single decision to make.

An army of thousands and Akame was confronting them all by herself?

_'Would you save me?'_

The words that she'd asked of him.

His firm reply, everything that she'd said that night.

This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Shirou gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists, but he couldn't act recklessly anymore.

There were people relying on him as a leader, and he couldn't just endanger them on impulse. Life and experience had taught him better, but he was forgetting a universal truth.

No matter how mature an individual grows, fundamentally, the foundation that made them who they were would always remain the same. Twisted, bent, or horribly disfigured, there was no denying their roots.

Shirou Emiya, was no different.

The warriors of Wakoku were kidnapping people and using them as labour.

Here came the dilemma.

On his own, he may be able to directly deal with the problem using his magecraft, but there was always the risk of magical depletion. Moreover, he would be versing an entire army. What he needed right now was help.

A part of him already knew on some level where he could get that help, but that was the true dilemma itself.

He closed his eyes in thought.

_'A Hero does not sit back and let injustice lie.'_

_A Leader who neglects their people is no better than a villain._

_'Inaction leads to stagnation. A sword sheathed, is a sword never used.'_

_Wisdom comes with time, the one to move first does not always win._

He closed his eyes, his fingers rapping against the wood of his now empty desk. He'd cleared all of the paper work and miscellaneous items over top to be left with nothing but a blank slate. It was a symbol of self reflection; to start from the beginning and think not with distraction, but with a clear mind.

_The safety of Calla and its people must be prioritized._

_'That's not what a Hero would do.'_

_Leader? At his core, who was he?_

_'An Ally of Justice.'_

His eyes blinked open at the realization.

Elaine was standing before him, having opened the door of his study on the opposite side of the room.

She was the first to notice that something about him had changed. He was different.

His gaze, his bearings, his demeanor, the sharp cry of a drawn blade seemed to echo within the room despite a lack of any noise.

He was serious.

He'd been acting ignorant before not because he didn't notice, but because he did not wish to endanger anyone else despite their willingness to aid him.

It was a selfish thought, but not one without merit. Many of his colleagues died in the line of duty in his last life. However, he'd neglected a single factor, and that factor was 'choice.'

Even if he wanted to protect everyone as a leader, if they did not wish to be protected, then continuing to do so was the same as denying them their freedom.

Not anymore.

His gaze narrowed sharply.

"How many have you already gathered?" He directly addressed the heart of the matter.

Elaine seemed startled at first, but she soon took off her glasses and brushed back her long bangs behind her left ear. "I thought you'd never ask, your Majesty. I've gathered plenty. Would you also like to know more regarding the situation?"

Elaine smiled softly at him in satisfaction. A part of her had always known that Shirou couldn't have had been that dumb not to feel _anything_ off with Calla and its inhabitants.

Majesty? Inwardly, Shirou grew alarmed, many questions popping up in his mind. However, no; he wouldn't ask nor address the issue.

Not now.

Therefore, he could still claim ignorance later when everything was concluded. Instead, he just nodded for Elaine to proceed.

Passiveness had its benefits, but it may not always be the correct answer.

Many people were dying, and many more people needed to be saved.

He could understand Akame's impatience simply because he himself would have had once done the same. Not for honour, or glory, but for the sole reason of helping others.

In a world filled with atrocity, villainy, and corruption, what was there left for him to do if not fight for a better tomorrow? Wasn't that what the Nameless Hero would have had done?

"Like you might already know, the people of Wakoku have gathered up a sizable army in response to the influx of migrating citizens. Some of the spies that had made contact with the group were given two demands in order for the warriors of Wakoku to cease hostilities." Elaine straightened her back and clasped her hands in front of her.

"Go on."

Elaine nodded. "They are asking for half of Calla's population and a treaty of heavy taxation."

Half of Calla's population and heavy taxation, or face war? The warrior tribes of Wakoku were asking for too much. Shirou's expression darkened.

No wonder Akame had already started an attack.

He wouldn't leave her to fight on her own.

The Warriors of Wakoku did not truly understand just who it was that they were dealing with right now.

He stood up, his muscles taught and gaze hardened.

The time for action had come.


	14. Chapter 14

A pair of red eyes shone under the cover of the darkness of the tall trees overlooking a distant army camp.

One.

Two.

Three.

The eyes flickered minutely in sharp contrast to the neutrality of a hardened gaze before blinking in concentration honed through several years of experience.

'Breathe, yet not.'

'To be seen, yet not.'

The words ingrained into Akame's mind from her years training within the Empire's underground Assassination Unit employed by the Prime minister, surfaced within her head. Images, techniques, lethality, memories, they were all what had shaped her to be what she was today.

An Assassin.

A Weapon.

Her only reason to live was to see out the orders of her superiors.

A tool of war.

She was not supposed to think, nor was she supposed to feel. Emotions were worthless in the face of death. It was why Akame rarely smiled let alone expressed herself. Such things weren't needed in battle.

Even after she had joined Night Raid, she still found it hard to return to being how she once was, human. To laugh for the sake of laughing. To live for the sake of living. To love for the sake of loving. They were all such foreign concepts of a bygone past. Of course, she'd been getting better in her time at Night Raid, but right now, it seemed as if all the progress that she had made had all vanished.

One swing.

One cut.

Blood splattered across her face, her expression, impassive as she retreated into the woods and back into the shadows.

"She went that way! Hurry before she gets away again!"

She clicked her tongue almost inaudibly. One was not allowed to make noise during a kill lest they alert their enemies of their location.

Another concept drilled deep into her psyche.

She picked up her speed and all at once she stopped. Her heart beat slowed, her muscles growing taught before relaxing. Not a word. Not a sound. Not a trace left behind.

Once again, she was one with the darkness.

Her pursuers sprinted directly passed her.

Her eyes blinked open, the deep red contrasted with the blood over her face, giving her an appearance of apathy, of disinterest.

How many had she eliminated now?

She didn't know, nor did it matter.

There were still other targets left alive.

She took in a breath, and in the next instant, she was gone; the rustle of the leaves the only indication of her presence, but before the leaves could even touch the ground, they were cut into pieces, leaving not a trace behind.

Although she'd forgotten the most important aspects of being human, in return she maintained a single outlook that could keep her going even when she had nothing left.

Kill for the sake of Killing.

No matter how savage or inhuman it was to take away the life of another, in one way or another there was no doubt that in her life as a Tool of War, it gave her purpose.

Purpose alone was enough. Because if she truly had nothing, then she might as well have had been dead. A mere puppet that wouldn't have been persuaded by Najenda to redirect the target of her killings. In the end, whether in the Empire or Night Raid, she was still a _Killer_. Thinking for even a moment that she _wasn't_ while in Calla was only fooling herself.

This was where she should be, on the battlefield.

Here, where the dead piled up in number every waking moment was where she belonged. Even someone broken like her could make a difference in this environment. She wouldn't complain, nor care about anything else anymore because even someone like her had found someone that she could rely on and have faith in.

That alone was enough.

She appeared, perched on the uppermost branch of a tree, her gaze calculating.

Admittedly, the skills that she'd learned as an Assassin weren't without merit. How else could she single handedly hold back the movements of an entire army?

Night and the evening were the opportune moments.

Aim not for the body, but for the head and even the strongest of beasts will fall.

This was the same analogy for large armies. More often than not, the main infantry and vanguards of armies in Wakoku and the Empire were not comprised of high-ranking individuals, but made out of farmers and lesser citizens. Slaves were the most common fodder with nothing to lose in society but their lives.

It was a harsh reality, but one that the world lived with.

Getting to the point though, Akame long since knew that such infantry and individuals weren't worth killing.

'Cut the head.'

'Cut the throat.'

Within the army camp her targets were simple to discern. Those adorned with lavish ornaments and jewellery, or those with special badges and armours, the leaders. Without their leaders, command and order within any army would fall to ruin.

Who better than to prioritize killing these targets than an Assassin?

It was basically her profession.

Still, a glimmer of hesitation flashed over her monotone features.

Her gaze shifted down towards the enemy's captives.

She'd killed a man earlier, but in truth that was only a distraction to lure away the enemy's main forces surrounding the captive travellers.

It was true that she had lured away many of the guards and soldiers around them, but from a professional perspective, they weren't her true objective to begin with. It just so happened that many of the army leaders resided in tents near the captive area to oversee the capture process of travelling migrants.

This was the perfect opportunity. While the bulk of the guards were distracted, the remaining security around the leaders would be child's play for her to bypass. At the same time though, who would the other leaders in various other part of the army-camp direct their anger towards for failing to apprehend her?

The captives would surely be severely beaten, or murdered in the worst-case scenario.

Her lips pursed subconsciously.

She should focus on the bigger picture.

Her hands trembled visibly, the grip that she had around her sword slackening in her indecision.

It was likely that this large army was headed for an attack on Calla. Crippling them now would increase the odds of the people that she'd grown close to in Calla surviving a surprise siege. It would save Shirou trouble.

Picturing Shirou overworking himself for the benefit of others without a complaint left her feeling reminiscent of the short time that she'd had along side him.

What would he have had done?

Of course, she'd only be fooling herself if she said that she didn't know, and that was why, fundamentally, a part of Akame had already changed.

_'One does not need a reason to save others.'_

The bark of the tree's branch groaned and bent as she put weight into her feet and pushed off of it to propel herself directly into the air.

Her arms closed in around her chest, her legs pressing together to keep her as sleek as possible in her descent; increased surface area would only slow her down and make her easier to see.

However, she wore black, the colour of the shadows.

Even if she was seen, she would look to be nothing more than a blurred figure in the short time frame.

One second, then two.

That was all that is took before her feet touched the ground and she began bolting forward.

The sharpest weapon of any Assassin wasn't the weapon in their hands, but their speed.

Once she'd decided on a goal, she would see it through.

The time had come.

Honestly, she didn't know if she was just being stupid or not, but rather than make the decision that was best for the situation, she wanted to fight for a better kind of outcome.

Save one to save many?

Save the life of friend over the life of a stranger?

Well, why not save them all?

That was what Shirou would have had done.

"GOOOO! NOW!" She screamed, raising her voice to the loudest that she'd ever done before while using both hands to brandish Murasame.

The leaders were alerted of her almost instantly, but before them, were all the captives held in the western area of the encampment who stared at her blood-soaked form in shock.

There was life to be seen within those red eyes.

Purpose.

Identity.

"I am Akame of Night Raid!" Yes, that was who she was no; she soon shook her head. "I am Akame of Calla!"

It was the name of a town that all of the captive travellers had heard of not through the voice of the nobility and high-ranked individuals, but through the voice of the people. The beggars, the poor, the destitute, all of them spoke of it with yearning to the point where it seemed to only be a place of myth.

Calla, the town of New Beginnings.

"To the east! Through the winding road, and passed the pine trees, stands a wall of steel and the promise of safety, food, and refuge. Your journey was not a lie! Hope lies in the horizon so seek it and strive. Never give up, because, because," Akame fumbled for words, the memories of her time in Calla appearing in her mind one by one in flashes. The world could be cruel, hateful, mired by pettiness, but she had seen a different side of it.

The joy she shared.

The disbelief.

The distrust met by acceptance.

Smiling faces.

Laughter contagious.

All of it amounted to a single conclusion that she'd never considered before. The words formed in her mouth before she even knew it, natural, yet strong.

"Never give up because this world is beautiful."

Hope would always exist within despair.

Where there was shadow, there would be light.

A balance of good and evil.

In a world suffused with ill intent and corrupted with filth, for once, there was good. She had seen it, basked in it, and now it was her turn to show that spark of good to the rest of the people like her and those living in desolation.

"Run, hurry!"

Akame gritted her teeth before charging towards the incoming guards. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hold them for long. What could she alone do against an army with just a single sword alone?

She didn't care.

The captives swallowed, their expressions skeptic, but moved by the emotion that Akame had been able to convey with her clumsy words.

"Run!"

The captives all began fleeing in the direction that Akame specified. No guards were able to stop them because Akame had made sure to target the one's intent on stopping the crowd first.

Just as water would spill forth increasingly from a single break in a dam, one avenue of escape was enough to trigger a chain reaction from the captives. It was a stampede effect.

Good.

This was good enough.

Akame sucked in a breath of air and lowered herself into a fighting stance, her knees bent and shoulders squared. She was tired, near exhausted, but in another sense, she felt stronger than she had ever been before.

She'd buy as much time as she could to guarantee the escape of the captives.

The soldiers of Wakoku were approaching en-masse.

Still, due to her disruption and the fact that the main force had been drawn away, the initial attackers only numbered in a few dozen.

It was fine.

She could handle this.

A group of two were the first to attack her, but she didn't stay in place.

To stay in place while out numbered was the same as suicide.

She was an Assassin; she'd fight while retreating, never staying in a single location.

Moreover, why stay and fight?

She glanced over to where the captives had escaped from, leaving behind a cluttered trail of trampled tents and belongings.

She nodded her head.

This could work.

Fear in and out of itself was always crippling.

She ran to where the captives had made their escape and suddenly jumped to the trees, a feat that none of the approaching warriors of Wakoku seemed able to presently replicate. It didn't matter. While they were preoccupied trying to get to her, she used the time to deliver a single message.

"Go ahead and chase them," she said icily.

Her crimson coloured eyes glowed dimly under the reflection of the moonlight.

To the leaders of the army who were looking at her from afar, they couldn't help but swallow when they realized that those demon-like eyes were narrowed in their direction.

"I will be waiting."

The leaders were not fools. They quickly understood the implications of Akame's words.

Should they send soldiers out to apprehend the captives, who would be left to defend their lives from an Assassin of Akame's calibre?

It was like a knife was being pressed to their necks.

They shivered, and in the moment that their eyes blinked, Akame was gone.

However, the constant threat of death remained.

Rather than chase the captives, in their paranoia, the leaders ordered the soldiers to stand guard over their tents throughout the night.

It was a humiliation that the main leaders of the army camp could harldy endure.

* * *

"This goddamned Bitch!"

A wanted poster of Akame of Night Raid was torn into pieces as a cup of wine was throne towards the ground with a clattering noise. Its silver frame rattled with the gritted noise of metal as it rolled over the floor, its contents spreading outwards in a tiny puddle.

The others standing at attention within the room flinched out of reflex, but the other people seated on a table in the middle of the commander's tent were unperturbed.

"Quell your anger, Lord of Houju," an older man spoke sternly. "You are representing your people in this coalition and your behaviour is reflecting poorly."

The man who had tossed the cup of wine was in his late forties and stood at roughly six-feet tall. He was bald and had numerous tribal marks that ran up and down his upper torso in a swirl-like pattern. He was dressed in a battle kilt and had leather armour firmly strapped over his chest.

He was the Lord of Houju, one of the twenty-two Nations of Wakoku known for their barbaric and indulgent life-style. Manners was a skill that they clearly did not possess.

"Shut it you geezer, you're only saying that because your camp has been unaffected due to how many guards you've taken along from Raika," the Lord of Houju sneered in derision.

The Lord of Raika who was mentioned was the leader of the Nation of Raika of Wakoku. He was an old man who'd maintained his position in Raika as its dictator. His greed for power and prestige drove him to kill his father and brothers for his current position. He was a venomous snake of a wrinkled yet kind-looking old man that would sooner kill his own sons than abdicate from his authority.

"Tch," The Lord of Raika didn't bother arguing. It was best to never argue with fools from the beginning.

There were three Lords of Wakoku currently present in the room. Presently, both the Lords of Raika and Houju turned to their third companion.

"Ready to join the discussion, Lord of Hageshi?" The Lord of Raika was growing impatient from tolerating the Lord of Houju's presence.

His attention redirected, the Lord Houju glowered provokingly. "Yeah, unlike everyone here, your forces were the ones who were already repelled."

The Lord of Hageshi gritted his teeth and glared, cowing the Lord of Houju into silence. The Lord of Hageshi was an intimidating looking man well into his fifties. However, the man looked to be only in his twenties. He had toned and rippled muscles that bulged even from the combat vest and pants that he wore. Worse, he had a unique aura around him that reminded both the Lord of Houju and Raika of a tense Danger Beast.

"You best be careful with your words, Lord of Houju, that loss was due to ill preparation and matters outside of regular intervention," the Lord of Hageshi crossed his arms in displeasure. "See to it that you never bring up this matter again, or your lands will be the first Hageshi will target at the end of this collation of nations."

The Lord of Houju paled while the Lord of Raika intervened.

"Enough of this matter Lord of Hageshi," the Lord of Raika raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Besides, weren't you only interested in this alliance to settle a score with a new enemy?"

The Lord of Hageshi grunted at the Lord of Raika's reminder, but the Lord of Houju couldn't help but snort. The report that the Lord Hageshi had briefed the other nations on was absurd.

"There's no way you're going to convince us all that a single person was able to repel the advance of several mountain-sized Danger Beasts alone." The Lord of Houju was careful in how he delivered his tone despite rubbing salt in a wound. As expected of the Lord of Houju. He was a fool who continued to irritate the man who'd literally just threatened him. "Trying to save your pride can only go so far."

The Lord of Hageshi bristled, but reeled in his anger when he noticed the uncaring gaze of the Lord of Raika. Neither of the two seemed to believe the authenticity of the report that he'd submitted.

He grunted.

At the very least, the more of them that died in this conflict, the simpler it would be to annex their lands.

"Let's get onto the matter at hand," The Lord of Raika said formally while clasping his hands in front of him. "Akame of Night Right is becoming more of a nuisance by the day. Do we not have a single person capable of dealing with her?"

The Lord of Hageshi fell silent in thought while considering the matter. He'd always been both smart and meticulous. He knew the combined might of the present army like the back of his hand.

"We have plenty who can deal with a person of her calibre." He concluded. "However, the main problem is that she wisely avoids open confrontation."

The Lord of Houju spoke up after calming himself down. He breathed in and out before speaking flatly. "We of Houju have brought many warriors, but not many assassins. Worse, we as a coalition have sent most of our assassin's and agile personnel to act as scouts. They won't be back to report of Calla's situation until another five or so days in order to avoid early detection."

The information that the Lord of Houju accurately detailed fully explained the current trouble the army was having. They hadn't expected to be attacked by such a high-level Assassin such as Akame weeks before the planned attack on Calla.

"Calla, that damned place," the Lord of Raika cursed aloud while beating his walking stick on the floor beneath him. "Our people of Wakoku keep leaving, and no amount of incentive to stay seems to effect them for long. There are always people seeking for better, and many of our people have grown tired with their current lifestyles and wish to migrate anyway."

"The only way to stop them fully, is to destroy their destination," the Lord of Hageshi uncrossed his arms and leaned his body forward to assess the logistic papers spread across the table in front of him.

Both the Lord of Houju and Raika agreed with a curt nod to the Lord of Hageshi's statement.

"With that in mind, we must find a method to deal with Akame of Night Raid soon before morale drops within the camp." The Lord of Raika advised. "It's already been three days and we still haven't apprehended her."

The Lord Houju nearly exploded at the reminder, but he managed to hold his anger in. Still, traces of it lingered in the Lord of Houju's voice.

"That's not even the main issue!" The Lord of Houju argued while glaring at the Lord of Raika. "Do you not know how many captives she's rescued from our hands? We need those people for labour and we agreed that we'd split them equally. Now there's only a large handful of them left and because of what reason? Because a bunch of cowards refused to give chase because of a single threat?" The Lord of Houju's tone was heated. "Akame is one person. No matter how capable she is, she can't kill every important military leader at once."

The Lord of Houju gave a sound argument, but the Lord of Raika already had a counter.

"Fear is a horrid thing. Can you really blame them, Lord of Houju?" The Lord of Raika spoke languidly, both hands clasped on top of his walking cane. "You're correct that there's no way that Akame could kill them all, but just the thought of being one of the few to die because you sent the nearby guards out to chase the captives is crippling. If it were you, Lord of Houju, would you risk your life sending out your personal guards in order to apprehend a certain number of captives, or keep those guards near you in the face of master killer?"

"…" The Lord of Houju fell silent before grimacing. "Alright fine, get to the point. How can we deal with her?"

The Lord of Hageshi delivered the ill news. "We can't."

Everyone had dark faces when hearing that specific truth. Before the Lord of Houju or Raika could argue, the Lord of Hageshi continued.

"Akame is both fast and agile. Worse, she isn't stupid." The Lord of Hageshi maintained a natural expression as if he didn't care for the problem at all while speaking. "Her experience is above that of most warriors present in the camp and she's never stayed for too long before retreating back into the woods. As an enemy, she is formidable because we have no way of dealing with her at the moment, and none of us wish to use any of our trump cards this early."

It was a fair point, but it didn't mean that it wasn't infuriating.

"If she'd been rescuing the captives, why don't we just use them as bait?" The Lord of Houju asked to clarify.

"How sure are you of that statement?" It was the shrewd Lord of Raika that brought up his doubts.

"What do you mean?"

The Lord of Raika shrugged. "Consider it from Akame's perspective. She's a trained Assassin, cold blooded and unfeeling. She had no reason to actively rescue the captives, but the fact that she continued to do so anyway hints that she may be trying to 'bait' us into giving chase to those captives."

The Lord of Raika had always been cautious. It was how he'd attained his position through careful planning. This situation was no different. Better to be safe then dead.

The Lord of Raika raised a single finger while talking solemnly. "In essence, she may have been telling the truth when she goaded the guards to recapture the captives. This leaves the military leaders vulnerable and will make it easier for her to kill her targets when they're unprotected."

It was a valid analysis, and one that caused the mood in the room to sour further.

"Fucking bitch." The Lord of Houju glowered. "Well, what are we supposed to do then?"

The Lord of Hageshi straightened his back and stood up from his seated position by the table. He'd heard enough. "We'll temporarily fall back and meet up with the other Lords of the twenty-two Nations of Wakoku." He said, causing the other two to fall silent.

The Lord of Raika and Houju were inwardly against the Lord of Hageshi's idea because it would be an embarrassment to ask for aid from foreign rival nations. Still, they had little choice left due to Akame's expertise.

"Once the ninjas from the nation of Jinsoku arrive, Akame's risk factor should be greatly mitigated," the Lord of Hageshi spoke dismissively. "We can catch her and kill her then."

"Do we really have no other choice?" The Lord of Houju looked like he'd swallowed a fly. "How can this entire army run away from one person?"

The Lord of Raika sighed in irritation. "Akame is a lethal Assassin. That alone is enough reason. If the leaders of an army are killed, what good is an army? It is us who have come ill-prepared."

"Fine." The Lord of Houju eventually relented. "Then we will temporarily fall back, however, we still have too many captives which will severely slow the march. Akame would have little trouble continuing her assassinations at such a slow pace."

"Isn't this a simple problem?" The Lord of Hageshi spoke up. "Transport the captives that will be of use, primarily the young and the able-bodied, and dispose of the rest."

Light shone with the Lord of Raika's eyes.

"An ingenious proposal," the Lord of Raika praised. "The scent of such a large amount of rotting flesh should draw in several numbers of Danger Beasts which Akame will have to avoid should she decide to tail us. Moreover, by the time the Danger Beasts come, the speed of our march should allow us enough distance that they won't bother with us."

The Lord of Houju did not take long to convince.

"Very well, kill the ones we don't need."

It was a unanimous decision.

* * *

For the first time in several days, Akame felt an ill-premonition despite her success in cowing the enemy. Something was wrong, but she could think of nothing that she'd done that was wrong. She'd executed her actions to perfection and guaranteed that not a single mistake had been made.

Sure, she was tired and weary, but her plan was somehow working.

Eventually, she'd be able to save the rest of the captives by relying on the inherent selfishness of those in power wishing desperately to cling onto their lives.

Her strategy was a success, and it gave her an odd sort of feeling.

She could still recall the grateful expressions that the rescued captives gave to her as they ran away. Many of them even bowed in her direction, and it was doing things to her mentality that she'd never considered before.

It was true that she was killing people in her profession as an Assassin, but this was the first time that she'd been fighting for the sake of others and not because Night Raid had taken on a job.

In simpler terms, it felt good to accept the gratitude of others.

Honesty, she should have had been happy, but no amount of preparation or intervention would have had prepared her for the sight that she would eventually see in front of her.

Her pupils dilated.

Puddles of blood soon began to shift into a flowing stream over the dirt.

"Help! NO Don't Please! Th-"

The gleaming light of a sword's edge cut into the skin of an aged woman's neck and lopped the head right off as if slaughtering chickens. Worse, the majority of the captives unfit for work were being hounded into a single group and directly butchered before the eyes of their family members who went berserk and uselessly tried to attack their oppressors.

"You bastards!" A group of teenagers punched and kicked at the warriors detaining them, but no amount of struggling did any good.

It was a massacre.

Her breath hitched in her throat and she felt her body subconsciously beginning to stiffen. It was weird. She'd long since grown used to seeing such acts of cruelty, but somehow a part of her was screaming at her to _MOVE_ and do something.

Naturally, as an Assassin, she knew that there was no benefit to be gained by stepping out at this moment, but, but damn it all! What was she supposed to do?!

Her heart began to beat rapidly within her, her senses flaring to heightened levels.

_'If you step out there, you'll die.'_

It was a logical conclusion. There were no doubts to be had. Although she had the upper hand in agility, technique, and weaponry, she would still be outmatched.

_'Then would you just watch on?'_

She pursed her lips and felt a budding sense of grief welling up from within her.

She shouldn't feel.

She shouldn't want.

Yet that was precisely what she was feeling.

It was Calla's fault. It had dulled her disposition as an Assassin and she herself no longer had any idea of what sort of existence that she was becoming. She couldn't return to being just an innocent girl; she'd already covered her hands too deeply in blood and death for that.

Then should she continue just being an Assassin to be used on the side that she agreed with?

Her complexion paled.

That wasn't quite the outcome that she wanted either.

Right now, for the first time, she felt truly lost.

All that she had as mental support was a single promise that even she inwardly knew was flimsy.

_"I'd save you."_

That was Shirou's promise, and yet wishing to be saved and directly committing suicide were two different concepts that Akame was quite clear about.

_'I'm sorry.'_

She smiled almost wistfull, her expression shifting subconsciously.

This decision was stupid, ridiculous, unbelievable, and yet somehow, she knew deep down within her that it was precisely the kind of choice that Shirou would have had made.

She charged; the wind whipping across her face, her form a blur.

Out of the tree line and into the open in the middle of the day, there was no way that she wouldn't be noticed. The leaders of the collation army of Wakoku were the most dumbfounded at the development, but they wouldn't waste the opportunity.

She charged on, using the shock of the enemy to quickly reach where the captives were being killed in droves. With a quick flash, they died within seconds to small cuts made through chinks in their armour.

The captives stared at her in a daze, yet different from before, there was no nowhere for them to run.

Behind Akame stood dozens of captives, in front of her, an army.

Her feet planted into the ground; her eyes narrowed towards the enemies approaching her.

Fight.

There would no running or fleeing in this situation.

She alone was the only one protecting the people behind her.

She gripped Murasame in her hands and brandished it with a small swing before holding it level to her shoulders in a ready stance.

Its cut was poison.

A means of sure death.

Murasame, a cursed Teigu exceedingly efficient at killing.

Akame could no longer count the number of people that she had killed with it, but it didn't matter.

_'Come.'_

Her eyes lost their light, her demeanor shifting into one of detachment.

The first attacker came, a large lumbering man equipped with an axe that was directed to swipe at her waist. She should have been cautious. She should have had retreated, but not this time with people behind her.

_'Selka was faster.'_

It was an idle observation.

She bent backwards, leaning low beneath the horizontal sweep and striking in a heart beat. A thin red line appeared over the man's forearms before the man collapsed dead.

Different from other forms of combat, Akame never needed a severe wound to eliminate a target. A nick was enough both to conserve her strength, and maintain her ideal distance.

When the first man went down, a second came, then a third, a fourth, and a fifth.

They just wouldn't stop.

An Assassin was never meant to undergo a frontal assault.

Bruises and cuts began to form over her skin, ranging from deep to light, but she continued on regardless.

She dodged left, rolled over the dirt, and just barely escaped decapitation.

Her exhaustion was building by the second, but more than that, she didn't seem to understand what sort of phycological effect she was having on the enemies around her. She'd long since lost count of how many enemies that she'd killed, but the bodies left sprawled over the ground were evidence enough.

They had formed a large pile and still Akame looked at her opponents with an unflinching stare despite her injuries.

It was horrifying.

This was the strength of Akame of Night Raid, one of the most renowned Assassins in the Empire.

Still, Akame eventually staggered. It was a lethal mistake and she knew it.

 _'Shit.'_ She inwardly cursed.

Before she could react, a sword pierced her left arm followed by her right.

She quickly pulled away, but the mobility in her arms was now basically useless. Worse, she was bleeding heavily, her vision blurry.

Rather than stop and retreat at this point, she forcibly lifted her right arm and bit down on Murasame's hilt with her mouth.

She could still fight.

Silence descended at her actions, apprehension growing in her surrounding enemy's eyes.

"S-She didn't even flinch."

"How many has she already killed? Why isn't she worn out yet?"

Anxiety was beginning to spread.

Honestly speaking, she no longer knew how much time had passed while she fought, but the sun which was still high over head was suddenly blotted out by thick clouds.

Shadows began to stretch, and in the dimness of a cloudy day, crimson eyes shone hollowly as Akame staggered forward on her feet. Without her arms, the only way she could really continue fighting was if she took the initiative. It would be impossible for her to react in time if she gave the enemy the time to launch their attacks.

She stepped forward, and for an instant, they stepped back.

Crows began to caw up in the air, attracted by the scent of fresh meat and blood.

At the rate Akame was fighting, the crows would probably be feasting on her flesh in a couple of hours. It was a morbid thought, but one that she'd only made in her detachment.

Really, what was her reason for fighting and continuing to fight for this long?

Even now she didn't know.

Her body carried her forward and directly against the enemy line.

It was hard to strike while holding her sword in her mouth, but it was less reliant on using her neck, and more dependant on the angle that she could push off the ground with using her legs.

She was getting more and more wounded over time, but she never let out even a single sound.

Tired yet fighting, she felt her body going numb. All that she could really do while dancing a hair's breadth away from the after life was think.

The metallic taste of iron seeped into her mouth as her teeth became strained from how hard she was biting down on Murasame.

What sort of person was she trying to be really?

Who was she?

Not an innocent girl.

Not just an Assassin.

But something more.

It was a concept and form of thought that she never in her life would have had considered before, but now was forced to acknowledge near the end.

It was Shirou's fault. Honestly, it was all because of him.

She felt her body going numb, but still she pushed on through sheer willpower.

Her body collapsed, Murasame just barely gripped in place by her teeth.

She could no longer move, but she finally understood the reason that she'd been able to fight on regardless of her present condition.

_'I wanted to be a Hero.'_

Her lips curved upward; her smile strained by weariness.

How ridiculous.

Just when was it that she'd started to believe in such a thing?

This was dangerous.

This wasn't the thinking and ideology of an Assassin.

Even if the thought was just for a moment, it had existed.

In a world that had no heroes, wouldn't the world have had been a better place if everyone within it was their own kind of Hero?

It was childish, but somehow the thought brought her a form of peace while watching the enemy's swords thrusting towards her in her moment of weakness.

She could no longer dodge.

If she was to die, then so be it.

She clenched her teeth, readjusting Murasame's angle in an effort to take down a couple more enemies with her. The moment that their swords would pierce her, she would crane her neck and cut her enemies if only a little. Death would soon ensue.

In the short interval before her coming death, the only thought in her mind was how many people had managed to escape in the chaos that she was causing?

It would be fine so long as she could save one. That way there would still be meaning in her resistance. Suddenly, she froze.

If Heroes were meant to save others, there was one other concept that Akame failed to realize.

Who would save the heroes?

"You, stupid idiot!"

A voice broke through the clamor of combat as a clawed fist pummeled Akame's nearby attackers into pulp.

"L-Leone?" Akame stammered out a name in her daze while looking at the woman who appeared crouched in front of her.

"Just shut up and save your strength. Sheesh," Leone shook her head exasperatedly before moving and taking Akame into her arms. "I don't know whose more of a fool. You or him."

A flag billowed in the wind over the horizon, but Akame didn't care for it as much as the impact Leone's words had.

_What? What did she just say?_

There could only be one 'him' that Leone was referring to.

Leone only pointed in response.

Akame blinked past the blurriness of her vision to see what Leone was pointing at, only to stiffen in disbelief.

"You're crazy for trying to take on an army by yourself to save a bunch of captives, but he's even crazier for a different reason."

Leone's words were entering Akame's ears, but for a moment she couldn't understand let alone comprehend them.

To save a single friend, an acquaintance he'd only known for a short time, that damn idiot did something that no sane person had ever done before.

The distant trees toppled to reveal what lay behind.

Familiar faces.

Acquaintances that Akame had once seen on the road.

The people of Calla mobilized.

"He brought an army."


	15. Chapter 15

It was a route.

In any kind of war or battle, a route was synonymous to death. There were hardly any exceptions in history and this wasn't one of those cases. The enemy was taken completely by surprise and unable to recover. On top of a sudden attack, they didn't even know the number of aggressors.

Worse, twisted masses of steel were raining down from the heavens in torrents, skewering through enemy after enemy and leaving them pinned to the ground.

The sound eerily similar to the screeching of a monster with the furor of thunder:

_Metal roaring in the twilight of the sunset echoed by the twang of a bow._

The rain of metal continued unabated into enemy lines.

Some were upright, others flattened or sprawled, many pierced through by the same arrow.

All were dead in an instant.

The psychological impact was indescribable. It was a means of attack that had never before been seen within the world, impactful and painfully vivid amidst the violence. Tufts of dust and debris leaving tiny craters that only made the image more haunting.

Was it Judgment?

Was it retribution?

No. Akame knew otherwise.

Everything was for the sake of a flimsy promise and she knew who it was that was capable of such an unimaginable assault.

_Shirou._

The name resonated with the image of a kind hearted man within her mind.

One who'd smile at an assassin.

One who'd care for an assassin.

One who'd _trust_ in an assassin.

No matter how much of a tool of war and conflict that she thought herself to be, to Shirou, she had always, and always would be just Akame. Not a killer, not an asset, but just a woman who's past was clouded in tragedy.

A person worth saving.

Wasn't that enough?

A Hero didn't need a reason to help another. Even if the one who should be saved was soaked so heavily with blood that her hands could never be cleaned.

"Akame, are you crying?"

No. No she wasn't.

She refused to acknowledge it or to look at Leone who was supporting her in her arms.

The wetness she could feel on her cheeks weren't tears, they couldn't be because it was impossible. She'd stopped crying years ago when she understood that crying and weakness would get her nowhere.

The liquid trickling down her face must have had been blood, the salty taste a mixture of the sweat that she'd worked up.

Regardless, she turned away from Leone so that Leone couldn't see her face until the wetness left her cheeks. That was until she realized that it was impossible to actually turn her face away due to the state of her injuries and her exhaustion. Worse, the way that Leone was supporting her head up so that the blood wouldn't rush up to her brain, all but guaranteed that her efforts were entirely in vain.

"I'm not crying," she wheezed out, uncertainty evident in her voice.

Leone didn't call her out on it and instead used a hand to wipe away the liquid on Akame's face. Akame would have had done it herself but her arms were incapacitated so she had no way of using them at the moment.

Akame's eyes were somewhat puffy and she felt it which was even weirder because she had assumed that she'd been poisoned somehow.

What a stupid poison.

Rather than kill, was it's sole purpose just to irritate her eyes?

She took in a breath to compose herself which sounded eerily similar to a sniffle from even to her own ears.

What the hell?

Leone was smiling lightly down at her. "It's alright to let it all out when you're relieved or thankful," Leone advised.

Let what out?

Akame's confusion must have had been evident on her face because Leone just sighed and shook her head. "It's nothing Akame, never mind."

Leone hauled Akame over her shoulder and stood up straight.

It was only then that Akame had calmed herself down enough to really inspect Leone. Now that her life wasn't in immediately danger, she could do such a thing, but when she did, she couldn't help but balk.

What was Leone wearing?

Leone was basically wearing nothing at all.

Her navel and bare legs were entirely exposed while only the most important places were covered by a thin layer of animal fur. Around her wrists and ankles were bracelet-like ornaments threaded with leather and paired with loose dangling feathers and beads.

Leone looked like she was earing Selka's attire. In fact, that was exactly what it was.

The question now was _why_?

She knew that the people of Heiwa prided themselves in their physical ability and as such weren't afraid to show it, but what purpose was Leone serving by dressing like them?

She herself would rather be caught dead than wear something so revealing, and no; it wasn't because her breasts were small. That had nothing to do with anything.

Akame was probably staring for too long because Leone ended up smiling wryly. The answer to Akame's questioning gaze though came promptly in the form of Selka who made her entrance by kicking a nearby enemy with her foot and sending him flying.

"Women are not as physically strong as the men, so we must take the initiative to attack in order to accumulate more honour as a Hunter," Selka walked up to Leone and began to lecture firmly in the middle of battle.

The enemies that tried to attack Selka on her way were swiftly dealt with as her lithe form twisted on the balls of her feet and struck out with athletic ferocity.

Akame noticed Leone's face cramp due to her close proximity. Moreover, was Leone actually nervous?

"Uhm, right," Leone mumbled.

In Leone's time in Calla, Leone had coincidently posed as a new recruit for Calla's Hunting unit in a profession largely dominated by male Hunters. Selka, as the only female Hunter of Heiwa had her pride and had been inwardly elated at the prospect of another female hunting companion.

Since Leone was the only woman recruited in Calla's Hunting unit to date, Selka had taken it upon herself to personally train and tutor Leone to be an expert Huntress.

"We must not bring shame to the Hunt." Selka concluded strongly.

Leone looked like she wanted to run away, but the fact that Leone was wearing Heiwa Hunting attire meant that at least a small part of Leone had warmed up to Selka and the rest. Not that she'd ever admit that. Besides, the accommodations that Leone was currently residing within at Calla were under the jurisdiction of Selka and the rest. Leone didn't have to pay for any sort of housing or food during the training period.

In short, Leone could be considered to be freeloading.

"So, crush the enemy, got it," Leone said robotically.

Selka nodded strongly before turning her attention to Akame.

"This isn't the place for you to die," Selka said somewhat awkwardly. She had always viewed Akame as a woman vying for her ideal man, and in her culture that meant War, but this was different. "Not when I haven't bested you yet."

Selka was a Hunter, and she had her pride.

Akame looked at Selka. Although it sounded like Selka didn't care a lot about saving her, she could see that Selka had been genuinely concerned on her behalf. Selka was just using her own approach to show that she cared, though if only just a little bit too confrontational to be healthy.

Akame really couldn't understand what she'd ever done to earn Selka's ire, maybe Shirou would know?

Something about the look on Akame's face inwardly infuriated Selka.

Selka would have had just declared a formal war right then and there against Akame if she was able to read what Akame was thinking about. Selka didn't have such an ability so she maintained her silence.

"Thanks," Akame murmured out nonetheless.

Selka nodded stiffly but didn't dwell on the matter.

Selka looked to Leone. "Take Akame to safety and then group up with the rest of the Hunters."

"Will do," Leone acknowledged with a poker face.

Selka looked at Leone oddly for a moment before shaking her head and retuning to battle.

"Rest well," Selka's voice carried in the wind.

Akame didn't have the energy to respond. She was too limp and Leone too quick to bolt away in the direction of Calla's backline where it was safest. Under the cover of Shirou's 'arrows' the journey to safety was without any real danger.

Leone came to a stop by the time that she reached the perimeter of the back line.

A majority of the people around were the relatively weaker members of Calla's expeditionary force since the main attackers were committed to the battle ahead. It was a logically sound tactic and had no problems whatsoever, but Shirou knew to be cautious by experience.

He'd left behind Elaine to oversee the backline.

As soon as Akame and Leone arrived, Elaine ushered them to the safest location before moving elsewhere to oversee a different part of the backline, namely the supply lines. Why Elaine had created supply lines for a short-term battle, neither Akame or Leone had any idea. Elaine had her own considerations and assumption to make in the long run and it wasn't Akame or Leone's business to pry into.

Safe and sound, Leone deposited Akame onto a rolled-out bed and smiled lightly.

"I'll help end this quickly so you can get some kind of medical attention," Leone said. "For now, just stay right here, okay? Don't you dare do anything stupid again."

When Leone had first heard what Akame had done without even informing her, she'd been both disheartened and furious. She had thought that she'd developed her relationship with Akame to a level where Akame could at least confide with her before making such a rash decision, but clearly this wasn't the case.

"Rest, Akame. You've done enough." Leone finally revealed traces of her disappointment and frustration. "We have a lot to talk about when this is all over."

Leone walked away before Akame had any time to answer.

Akame shut her mouth.

She'd probably annoyed or worried a lot of people this time, not that anyone could really blame her. It had been years since anyone had even cared about her so she wasn't really used to the feeling yet.

Still, it felt heartening.

She inwardly flinched when she imagined the scolding that she was certain to receive.

Maybe, just maybe, she should have planned things out better?

* * *

The Lords of Houju and Raika were at their wit's end. Neither of them had suspected a sudden enemy attack and their forces were all scattered and disorientated. The cursed Archer was treacherous.

Every time the Lords of Houju and Raika attempted to gather their men and assume a defensive formation, the steel arrowheads would instantly kill the troop leaders. This resulted in continued chaos that was difficult to mediate. Eventually, every troop and platoon leader were killed, leaving only the Lords of Houju and Raika to personally command. However, neither of them wished to vacate the safety of cover.

They were terrified.

Without any cover or obstruction, the penetrative power of the sword-like arrows launched from the air could kill either one of them if they weren't careful. The Lord of Raika was not a fighter to begin with. He was only equipped with a walking cane. Meanwhile, the Lord of Houju did not dare think that he could withstand the enemy's onslaught on his own.

"That damn Lord of Hageshi. Where did he go at such a time?" The Lord of Raika felt his blood draining from his face.

From the moment that the fighting had started, the Lord of Hageshi had mysteriously disappeared. There was no indication to how the Lord Hageshi had retreated, but both the Lord of Raika and Houju understood that there was no way that the Lord of Hageshi would come back given the situation.

"We're on our own," the Lord of Houju growled.

The Lord of Raika shook his head. "It's not 'we' it's you. Look at me, do you really expect me to fight?"

The Lord of Houju grimaced at the Lord of Raika's reminder. "Then command from the back. We have to make a stand or the army will be entirely defeated."

The Lord of Houju nodded while standing up on his feet and leaning over his walking cane. At the same time, the Lord of Houju took in a breath and stepped outside into the line of fire. Fearful as he was, he understood that he would die if he lost, and he'd die if he kept still. If the only choice that he had was to die, then he'd rather choose his own death by his own terms.

The Lord of Houju drew his sword and stared wearily at the sky as if he was already a goner. However, nothing happened.

He waited, and waited longer with no result.

The rain of steel had ended, but for what reason, the Lord of Raika didn't know. Frankly, he didn't care. Maybe the Archer had run out of arrows?

"Gather into loose formations! Make sure to spread out." The Lord of Raika was quick to issue orders. "We're dead if the Archer fires again!"

* * *

Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield Shirou lowered his black bow before dismissing it in a shower of glittering gold dust. He'd already achieved his objective of rescuing Akame and he'd also killed the guards around the captive travellers. He'd also seen Selka and Leone escorting everyone away under his cover fire. Therefore, he had no reason to stay and risk the lives of his people any longer than necessary. However, he couldn't just stop now. He'd grown from the ignorance of his youth, and understood what it meant for such a large force of enemies to gather at his door step.

In some ways, Akame had been right. It was true that there was nothing wrong in taking a passive approach to peace, but at the same time, it allowed his enemies to take the initiative to attack. Why else would such a force from Wakoku gather?

He had always been averse to killing, but he was going to take the opportunity to cull the enemy's numbers and dissuade them from ever thinking of attacking again.

At this point, he'd already drawn the leaders out, yet killing them wasn't the answer.

He had to ingrain fear and aversion within their minds. As leaders, they alone could decide whether or not their people would participate in war.

That was why it was time to personally take to battle.

With the amount of magical energy that he'd been able to conserve, he didn't need to hold back today.

With his bow dismissed, he reinforced his body and directly jumped towards the fray.

Magic circuits thrumming from within him, circuit-like patterns formed over his skin, causing him to dimly illuminate the area around him in a soft glow.

It was eye-catching under the darkness of the day and like a meteor descending down from the skies, he crashed into the middle of the battleground in a cloud of dirt and debris. All eyes turned to stare at him, a layer of steam exuding from his body as his magic circuits heated up and flared to life.

Physical strength had never been his strongest suit, but that was only in comparison to Servants which he had once pitted himself against.

In comparison to an average human, he may as well have been an oversized beast.

His feet dug into the ground with a single step; the sound of his knuckles cracking, audible as he clenched his fists.

_What was scarier than a sword or weapon?_

He appeared in front of an enemy in an instant, sparks showering around him as a sword grated against his skin and left only a single scratch.

Everyone's eyes widened.

_It was a body that would not die._

Mundane blades and attacks were useless against him while his skin was Reinforced.

His was a body of steel with the strength of a beast. Of course, it would not last, and he wouldn't use it carelessly since Reinforcement actively burned through his reserves if left on for long enough. However, his enemies did not know that.

Under everyone's scrutiny, he directly batted away the enemy's weapon and lifted the man by the leg before hurling him through the air without a change in expression.

The man tumbled and groaned as his limbs flailed. By the time that the man ground himself to a stop, the man had long since died from the force or had passed out from the shock.

Shirou had never needed a weapon to be lethal on the battlefield. His body itself was a weapon; a sword ready and poised.

Selka and the Hunter's of Heiwa who prided themselves on physical strength stood frozen at the sight. Selka was beaming and nodding as if what Shirou had done was her own achievement while Leone gawked.

Not to be outdone, Selka and the rest began their attack in earnest.

The Hunters of Heiwa were all well-muscled. Using Shirou's actions as a benchmark, the Hunters of Heiwa began to compete in who could throw the enemy the farthest. Different from the rest, Selka chose to see how far she could kick someone instead.

"Run, it's the freaks of Heiwa!" Screams ripped through the air followed by dozens of men and women being flung from their legs.

Selka preferred the term, 'Hunter,' but she digressed. The opinions of dead men did not matter.

Shirou stared, but chose not to comment. Selka and the others were all equipped with mystic codes that suited their fighting styles, but as if to emulate him, Selka and the rest weren't using them at all.

Leone was the most incredulous while seeing this scene.

Meanwhile, the Lords of Raika and Houju stared grimly when they finally noticed a key detail.

Shirou was wearing a white overcoat emblazoned with the symbol of the Empire's Golden Era over his normal clothes. It wasn't a symbol that the standard army member of the Empire would wear. Instead, it was reserved only for a specific family line. The symbol caused Lord Houju and Raika to pale.

"A member of the Empire's Royal family?"

The Empire wasn't the only nation with history books. In the generation of the First Emperor, the territories that were conquered all learned of the Emperor's symbol and war standard.

If Shirou heard what Lord Raika and Houju muttered, then he didn't react.

This was taking too long.

However, moments before he could fully commit himself, he noticed something in the distance.

"Selka," he called out briefly. "Can you take care of this?"

The enemy was already routed and the only people left to deal with was Lord Raika and Houju.

"Yes, of course! Leave it to me!" Selka didn't waste a second to reply. In fact, she looked so determined that the other Hunters were grinning from ear to ear.

Shirou didn't notice and instead took the time to reach Selka and bow his head in gratitude.

"I trust you," he said moments before leaving.

Selka's mind momentarily shut down before fire seemed to erupt around her.

The way that she looked at Lord Raika and Houju made them feel utterly unnerved.

It wasn't natural.

Love was blind.

* * *

Akame knew that something was wrong. She was an assassin and had been one for years. As such, it didn't take much for her to get on edge, and more often then not, it saved her life.

She was at the back line of a battlefield. Even if it was the safest location, why was it so silent?

Elaine was the one overseeing the area so much of Akame's weariness was taken away. However, the situation was too abnormal. Besides, Elaine couldn't be around all of the time.

It was then that a shadow loomed down from over her.

She paled while trying to move her body in order to react, but her injuries were too extensive. Screaming for help wouldn't work either because a hand almost instantly covered her mouth.

"Well, now. I didn't expect one as injured as you to be conscious."

She looked into the eyes of the missing Lord of Hageshi and tried to bite his hand. However, the Lord of Hageshi merely grinned before roughly pulling her up and hoisting her over his shoulder.

Again, she tried to resist in any way, but all that she managed was a feeble twitch before her body slumped on her. Worse, if she wasn't careful, her wounds which had clotted closed would reopen.

The Lord of Hageshi used this time to sneak out of the back line using whatever method that he had used to sneak in. Said method didn't take long for her to determine at all. She'd been purposely kept in a safe location by Elaine, and that was exactly why she hadn't noticed what was happening. Elaine was proficient and had refused to let the fighting reach anywhere near her.

Dust and splinters were showering the ground relentlessly in the nearby vicinity. Trees were knocked over and many people preoccupied with defending.

Hageshi was the land of Danger Beast Tamers. The average strength of a member of Hageshi may not have had been as strong as the Empire's elite, but the Danger Beasts that they commanded were formidable. The Lord of Hageshi was no exception. There were several bee-like Danger Beasts preoccupying the weaker guards while Elaine, Raiga, and the other members of Calla were dealing with an agile Great Ape.

The Lord of Hageshi had snuck by in all of the commotion.

By the time that Akame knew it, the Lord of Hageshi had taken her deep into the forest away from the backline.

"Why don't you just kill me?" Akame slurred out.

The Lord of Hageshi remained expressionless. "You're more useful alive then dead."

"That's where you're wrong," her voice was shaky.

She couldn't understand the Lord of Hageshi's reasoning. She didn't have anyone that would care very much about her life. Sure, she had comrades that would die for her, but that wasn't the same thing. She didn't _want_ them to die for her if at all.

"Oh, I believe otherwise," the Lord of Hageshi replied flatly. "Perhaps you just don't understand your own worth. Isn't that right, boy?"

Boy?

The Lord of Hageshi clearly wasn't referring to her.

Mustering up her energy, she craned her neck to the side to see Shirou suddenly appear walking from the underbrush. Her eyes widened; her mouth suddenly dry. What was he doing here? Wasn't he leading the battle?

"Let her go," Shirou's tone was stern.

A trace of emotion finally graced the face of the Lord of Hageshi. Hageshi was a land of Danger Beast tamers, but the thing was, humans themselves could be considered beasts. The Lord of Hageshi himself was exceedingly critical in reading the emotions and thoughts of others.

"In all honesty, I'd never believed that such a tactic like this would ever be useful in this world of selfishness and personal ambition, but I was proven wrong." The Lord of Hageshi eyed Akame snidely before snorting. "For the sake of others, an Assassin chose to give up her advantage? At first, I was incredulous, but then I thought about it."

The Lord of Hageshi used his free hand and rummaged through his back pocket. "If an Assassin was willing to give up her advantage from the shadows, then would an associate of such an Assassin share similar views?"

Shirou remained silent, his jaw clenched tightly.

"In which case, rather than waste my time in a futile struggle in a routed army that's bound to lose, I figured a gamble of values was worth more of my attention."

Akame tried to escape when the Lord of Hageshi's attention wasn't fully on her, yet she was too exhausted to do much more than grunt and flail. Even with one arm, the Lord of Hageshi could still restrain her in her current condition.

Nonplussed by her struggles the Lord of Hageshi eventually pulled out some kind of bound pellet the size of a glass marble from his pocket.

Shirou narrowed his eyes upon seeing the marble's entirely black and purple surface.

"The most lethal of poisons aren't always the one's that react spontaneously." The Lord of Hageshi tossed the pellet over which Shirou caught with his hand. "Eat it, and I let her go."

Akame's widened, her heart lurching from within her chest when she heard what was just said.

No. _NO._

She would have had tried to yell at this point, but the Lord of Hageshi muffled her mouth with a hand. However, her eyes were practically screaming.

_'Don't you dare!'_

_'You can't do this! Not for me!'_

Shirou hesitated, clearly thinking about whether or not to accede. He remained silent, but the Lord of Hageshi seemed to see right through him. "You're thinking to buy time until your allies arrive? I'm not that foolish."

Shirou stilled, expression somber. "I'm warning you; you do not want to make an enemy of me."

The Lord of Hageshi raised a brow, but didn't say much more. "I already have. Eat it now or the girl dies."

Shirou remained frozen for another second, contemplating the time and distance before reinforcements arrived and concluding that it was impossible.

Shirou raised the pellet closer to his mouth, prompting Akame to struggle harder against her restraint.

_Stop! Stop that now!_

_Magic! Use your magic or something!_

She knew that she was pulling at straws, but her desperation was preventing her from seeing that. No matter what kind of magic Shirou used, nothing would be fast enough to stop the Lord of Hageshi from directly killing her.

Shirou made his decision.

Her mind blanked, but for a different reason entirely.

The Lord of Hageshi's eyes widened as his entire body froze. He was simply unable to move no matter how hard he tried. All that he could do was dart his eyes left and right and move his mouth. "W-What did you do?" His tone was clipped, laced with an undercurrent of panic.

Hidden behind the Lord of Hageshi, the silhouette of a sword was visible from where it had subtly stabbed into the Lord of Hageshi's shadow.

A Black Key.

The preferred weapon and sacrament of the Enforcers of the Holy Church of another world manifested it's unique ability of restraint. Once pinned to the shadow of an enemy, there was no longer any room for escape unless disturbed by a higher power.

The Lord of Hageshi had been correct. Shirou had indeed been buying time, but it wasn't for reinforcements.

Under Shirou's magic, the Lord of Hageshi could do nothing as Akame fell away from his arms.

" _You_ , what is this?" He asked again in incredulity.

"Is there a need for me to explain?" Shirou walked forward ominously. "You were correct from the start. We are enemies."

Shirou outstretched a hand, and a sword manifested at his finger tips to the shock of the Lord of Hageshi.

Seeing death approaching, the Lord of Hageshi did not panic, instead, he hurriedly called out. "Do you think that this is over! Look behind you!"

Akame felt it first, the prickle of movement near the nape of her neck before a small spider crawled out from beneath the collar of her shirt.

Shirou's feet firmly planted into the ground. One look, and he could tell that the spider was poisonous.

"You never saved her to begin with, and regardless of what you did, there must be some conditions to it. Release me or the girl dies," The Lord of Hageshi demanded. However, a hint of unease could be seen in the man's eyes. "What will it be?"

The smart move, the one that Akame was hoping that Shirou would do was to give up on her. Sure she may die, but the Lord of Hageshi was all but captured already.

Shirou grimaced, the sword he had in his hand already raised overhead but never falling.

He looked to Akame, and then to the lord of Hageshi.

Kill one for the sake of all and balance the worth of lives on a scale?

He wasn't Emiya.

He refused to take that path.

To Akame's horror, he released the Lord of Hageshi and promptly swallowed the pellet without hesitation. His body swayed and staggered.

Akame's mouth opened, then closed, her lips quivering before she exploded, lashing out at the Lord of Hageshi with all of her remaining strength.

This bastard.

_This bastard!_

Her legs wobbled before she practically threw herself at the Lord of Hageshi in her rage. However, her struggles were meaningless. The Lord of Hageshi dodged and with a single arm he grabbed her again. This time to remove the spider from her neck.

"Good." The Lord of Hageshi smirked at Shirou. "Now then, I suppose it's time for me to leave. Although this may be the most opportune moment to kill you, but the poison will do its job in time. Moreover, I never underestimate an enemy."

The Lord of Hageshi retreated slowly, but rather than release Akame right away, he dragged her with him as a shield, prompting Shirou to glower.

"Stay right where you are," the Lord of Hageshi warned darkly. "I will release her when I get far enough. I'm not a dishonourable man who would renegade on an agreement. However, I'm not foolish enough to release a hostage while directly in front of an enemy whose skills I do not know."

The Lord of Hageshi was still considering just how Shirou had managed to incapacitate him. The Lord of Hageshi wasn't stupid either. Whatever Shirou had done, it had been done from behind him. He kept a careful eye on his back. He would not be struck by the same attack twice.

The Lord of Hageshi waited for a moment before moving again. This time, Shirou did not follow.

From Akame's perspective, she could see that Shirou was struggling to concentrate, his breaths heavy and pupils somewhat unfocused from whatever poison that he had ingested.

It hurt. Something inside her was hurting.

When the Lord of Hageshi was far enough away, the moment of release came.

The Lord of Hageshi jumped atop a tall tree in the distance with her in tow.

The Lord of Hageshi _did_ release her, but rather than let go of her on the ground, she was dropped head first from an elevated height.

_Bastard._

She inwardly seethed.

She didn't even have enough strength to reorient herself.

At the end of the day, she knew that she was only human. If she fell head first onto the forest floor at her current elevation, then her cranium would shatter into pieces and she'd die like any other man.

That was when it happened in an instant, almost as if Shirou had been waiting for it.

A sword. A large sword had manifested from beneath her in order to catch her.

From the corner of her eye, she saw another sword which had been aimed at the Lord of Hageshi wobble before veering off course and just barely grazing the side of the man's neck.

_A pity._

Yet she couldn't blame Shirou for missing. Rather than focus on killing the Lord of Hageshi, he again chose to save her when her life was in danger.

She didn't know what to feel after the realization hit her.

Meanwhile, the Lord of Hageshi's expression turned grim from confirmation. His internal conjecture that Shirou could manifest swords from anywhere was spot on. He stared at Shirou like he was a monster. The man then took off with a speed faster than even the Empire's elite units assuming the ability was limited to Shirou's view.

The Lord of Hageshi had no intention of remaining any further. As the Lord of Hageshi retreated into the woods, he made sure to constantly check over his shoulder to see whether or not a sword was looming over his head. After all, he'd just experienced the literal representation.

If the sword had just been another centimeter the to the right, then the Lord of Hageshi would have had died.

The thought itself was chilling.

An instant passed, and soon, the Lord of Hageshi was no longer in sight. He had a lot of new considerations to make.

Left behind, Akame just stared blankly. First at the direction that the Lord of Hageshi had run away from, and then towards Shirou who was slowly making his way over.

"…"

She had no words.

Why? Why did he do it?

She felt that even if she asked, all that she'd receive would be a reassuring smile and an answer that would probably infuriate her more than appease her.

Her thoughts must have had been showing on her face because Shirou quietly bent over and picked her up over his back. She immediately protested, her feeble attempts doing little to dissuade him.

"Don't worry about me. I can handle myself," Shirou said with beads of sweat forming over his head. "Besides, you aren't in a condition to be worrying about others."

"Your poisoned," she responded to the best of her ability.

"It'll be fine." He adjusted his grip on her and mumbled a few words to himself that she had managed to hear due to her proximity.

"Steel is my body, and Fire is my blood."

She didn't know what he meant, but his words seemed to have some other meaning. She chose not to press on it mostly because she was too tired and concerned to really care.

They travelled in silence with Shirou carrying her on his back despite her continued protest. He was poisoned and was in no shape to add her weight onto his shoulders. However, he was bullishly head-strong and wouldn't listen to her as if he considered his well being to be beneath hers.

It was frustrating, but she could see that this was just the kind of man that Shirou was. In a short time, they would reach the others, but first, Shirou broached a difficult subject.

"Why did you leave without asking for help?" He said, the sound of his feet crunching against the ground echoing. "If you already knew what was happening here then surely you would have had known that I wouldn't have had refused."

She didn't know how to answer.

In truth, she had left on more of an impulse rather than a rational plan. She'd just wanted to do something to change the current dynamics of the world rather than adopt a passive approach. Of course, she didn't want to admit that so she simply remained silent. She didn't want to lie anymore nor did she want to mislead anyone again.

Her chin fell to rest over Shirou's shoulder, the silence between them stretching until Shirou sighed.

It was fine, he seemed to indicate. He didn't need an answer anyway.

That was what she liked about Shirou. He never pried when it was too difficult to answer, and he always did his best for the sake of another. Even someone like her.

Resting on Shirou's back, her pupils dilated as she saw a twinkle of light in the distance. When she focused her gaze, the image became clearer to reveal the silhouette of a familiar gunner before a shot was fired.

Shirou didn't notice. The poison must have had been affecting him more than what he was letting on.

The charged magical bullet was aimed in her direction.

No, her eyes widened. Not at her.

"W-Wait, no don't!"

It was impossible. Even if she had managed to yell, the distance was too far.

It was too late.

Mind spinning, she directly pushed Shirou away with what little bit of strength that she had left in her body.

It was barely enough.

Shirou was weak as it was. It didn't take much to shove him. The force caused Shirou's grip on her to wane before breaking entirely. She fell and rolled on the ground, but almost as soon as this happened, she was grabbed and taken away.

She looked up at her captor. It was a lanky and green haired man with a similarly coloured long jacket. He had red goggles around his head and had long bangs that covered one side of his eye.

"Lubbock?" It was the name of another colleague from Night Raid.

"Quiet. I need to get you to safety." Lubbock was looking at her with concern, but it was having the opposite effect. She didn't need to be rescued in the first place.

"Let go," she muttered weakly.

"What?" Lubbock was taken off guard and stared at her in confusion.

"I said let go!" She tried to shove herself away from him, but forgot that her arms were currently incapacitated. Once again, her efforts led her nowhere.

"What the hell's wrong with you? Stop struggling! I don't want to drop you!" Lubbock could not understand what was happening or what he'd done to deserve such ire.

Akame directly glared, causing Lubbock to flinch when a pair of red eyes seemed to pierce directly through him. "Easy, _easy_ now. It's me. I'm not here to hurt you."

She didn't care. Another random movement and she fell from Lubbock's hands. Fortunately, Lubbock had been travelling at a low elevation so all that happened was a minor tumble.

Lubbock clicked his tongue and reoriented himself to pick her up. However, the gleam of sharp metal surrounded Lubbock in an instant.

Akame got a strange sense of Dejavu.

Lubbock stilled in disbelief as a layer of swords formed around him. Worse, they were wobbling, showing no indication of restraint.

Lubbock quickly raised his hands in surrender, his expression stiff.

"Well, this is awkward."


	16. Chapter 16

His name was Lubbock, a member of Night Raid that specialized both in information gathering and subterfuge. He ran a covert operation within the Empire while posing as an owner of a bookstore where he gathered intelligence from passing citizens who were generally literate enough to understand the workings of the Empire. He didn't waste his skills on opening a bar of any sort as that was more along Leone's forte to swindle information and rumours from drunkards. Moreover, he'd been raised a rich Merchant's son.

Different from Leone, he was well learned and understood the behaviours and tendencies of the upper class who'd never suffered through hardship. It made it easier to get along with them and subtly build his own social networks amidst the wealthy.

His job had its ups and downs, but he of all other members of Night Raid had a past that was far less dark as the others. After all, he only joined Night Raid for the sake of the love of his life, not that he'd ever admit that to any of his allies.

Regardless, he'd already felt that something was odd about the way the Revolutionary Army had urgently tasked Night Raid with a new assignment; something about infiltrating the steel walls that had suddenly been erected at a previously impoverished area of the Empire.

'Odd' was a pleasant way of putting how insistent the Revolutionary Army had been. Honestly, it was more like a demand if anything.

Night Raid did not refuse for two reason. One, Night Raid relied on the supplies given by the Revolutionary Army, and two, some of Night Raid's members were missing in the general area.

Najenda, the leader of Night Raid had decided to make a personal visit, and there was no changing her mind. In which case, rather than endanger Najenda to unknown factors, he'd volunteered to act as a vanguard with another member of Night Raid supporting him: Mine, a sniper.

Everything had been going well since the beginning. What was even better was that he'd chanced upon a rare opportunity to bypass the target location's defences while its primary defenders were involved in some kind of skirmish.

As a member of an Assassin core, he hadn't wasted his opportunity and directly slipped through most of the fighting in order to make his way to the steel walls in the distance. However, that was when things began to go wrong.

He saw Akame, a member of Night Raid who'd been missing for months, heavily injured and weak. She didn't even have the strength to struggle out of the grip of the red-haired man that was carrying her.

Considering how long Akame had been out of contact and her present condition, she must have had been struggling for a long time to escape her captors. Worse, it would seem that her latest attempt had failed again since the red-haired man was carrying her straight back to the steel walls.

It had never crossed his mind that Akame had participated in the battle that he'd bypassed. After all, an open and suicidal battle was not something a hardened Assassin like Akame would put herself through.

Just as he had noticed Akame, Mine must have had noticed them sooner through the lens of her scope.

Mine had fired before he could even properly investigate.

Mine was a rational individual, but at times, her emotions still got the best of her. Especially when it concerned those that she'd deemed as friend.

He'd inwardly cursed at Mine's prompt action but had immediately rushed forward as a follow up regardless.

The sequence of events went as followed: He dashed in, grabbed Akame, and then dashed back out.

If you asked him if he had regrets, he would reply with a strained smile.

Awkward was a loose way of describing his present situation. One wrong move and he felt as if he'd be skewered and his head placed upon a pike in warning for others to come.

He swallowed nervously, unable to understand what was happening. Last he remembered, swords don't just randomly form from within the air and cage him in place.

"Shirou," he heard Akame mutter from the ground beside him.

She'd struggled too much in his grip and he'd accidently dropped her as a result. She was presently sprawled on her side, her head tilted up in worry, but he hardly noticed in his current predicament.

Beads of sweat formed over his brow and trickled down his face to his chin. He furiously contemplated whether or not the steel strings of his Teigu could block so many swords at once. However, he understood that without tethering them to a support first, his strings wouldn't offer much resistance at all. Think of the steel strings of his Teigu like a rope. Said rope would only offer resistance not in a loose form, but in a taut form.

Yup. He was going to die.

A charged magical shot suddenly impacted against the floating swords, producing a plume of smoke and dust that momentarily blanketed the area.

Mine. She was obviously trying to create an opening for him to escape.

Far from moving though, his feet remained planted in the dirt. The swords around him were lightly singed, but for the most part, they were still in tact. Evidently, they weren't normal swords to begin with.

"Shirou," Akame called out again.

It was only after Akame's voice echoed in his ears that he turned his attention back to the red-haired man that he'd left behind after grabbing Akame. The man was struggling to stand with an arm outstretched in their direction a pained expression on his face.

Lubbock registered that Shirou was the red-haired man's name, but promptly zeroed in on another assumption.

The swords floating in the air, Shirou was the one who'd created them.

Another Teigu user. He grimaced inwardly, yet Akame was showing no caution at all as if she was personally acquainted with Shirou himself.

"Wait, Shirou. Don't." Akame rasped out.

So, they _were_ acquainted.

The way that Shirou looked from Akame then back to him made it clear that Akame's words had some sort of impact on Shirou's decision making.

Lubbock sighed. Evidently, his compression of the situation was utterly lacking. It would appear as if Shirou was more of a friend to Akame rather than an enemy.

He raised an arm and signalled Mine to hold her fire. It was better to get a better understanding of the situation before jumping to conclusions no matter how dangerous Shirou appeared to be.

Besides, he'd rather cling onto his life than risk losing it over a misunderstanding.

Seconds passed followed by a minute of tense silence before the swords hovering in the air vanished one at a time.

Lubbock calculated in his mind, trying to determine a Teigu that had the characteristics that Shirou was exhibiting. He couldn't recall any of the sort.

Was it a new Teigu then? Impossible. The method to manufacture Teigu had been lost to the Empire for decades.

After the swords vanished, he felt a tug on his pant leg and looked down to see Akame staring right up at him.

"Carry me to him," she said urgently. Obviously, Akame didn't have enough strength to move on her own. Moreover, Shirou himself appeared to be afflicted by some kind of poison if the paleness of his complexion indicated anything.

Still, that didn't mean that Shirou wasn't dangerous.

Cautiously, Lubbock complied with Akame's request and hesitantly picked her up and carried her back towards Shirou.

"This is Lubbock," Akame introduced as soon as everyone was within hearing range.

"Uhm," Lubbock scratched at the back of his head while adjusting his grip on Akame.

"Lubbock," he said uneasily. He reached a hand out in greeting but faltered when he remembered that Shirou wasn't in a condition for formalities. "I ugh, guess my friend and I tried to kill you."

Lubbock could feel the way that Akame was glaring at him. "A misunderstanding I assure you."

"Shirou," Shirou simply introduced himself through gritted teeth, wordlessly implying that he'd let the previous matter drop.

The three fell into silence, Shirou swaying on his feet. Shirou was evidently not in any state to be moving. Akame looked over at him with worry.

"Hey Lubbock-"

Lubbock silenced Akame with a flat stare. No, he would not help carry a stranger so close to his person. Even if Akame vouched for Shirou, an Assassin's paranoia was one of their greatest assets. He wouldn't allow an opening on his person for a potential enemy.

Akame's mouth opened, then closed. She could tell that there was no convincing him because the two had known and worked with each other for so long.

Fortunately, someone else came and decided to break the tentative calm.

"Lubbock?" Leone was momentarily caught off guard as she arrived hopping down from an overhead tree. She landed on the balls of her feet; a small crater left on the earth beneath her soles.

She stood up straight and assessed the situation with a calm gaze.

Leone had previously been fighting alongside Selka but had been alerted that Akame had gone missing. She had abandoned the battlefield in favour of finding her friend after parting ways with Selka.

Different from the other members of Calla, Leone's Teigu had the ability to enhance her senses, allowing her to follow Akame's scent from the beginning.

"Leone, you're safe?" Lubbock called out in genuine surprise and relief. The two missing members of his team had up and appeared right in front of him. He hadn't accomplished his mission yet, but he _had_ accomplished his personal goals.

His friends were safe and not dead. That was all that mattered to him.

"Yeah I'm safe," Leone approached. "Did the rest of Night Raid come too?"

Lubbock nodded before releasing a breath and clearing his mind. "I'll forget about my current mission. If the both of you are safe, let's head back and regroup with the others. They've been worrying a lot about you both."

Neither Leone or Akame answered. Akame just looked away while Leone's expression became somewhat strained.

"About that, I'll explain everything in due time," Leone deflated while Akame gave Leone a warning look. "Relax Akame, I know what I'm doing."

Lubbock frowned while watching Leone and Akame's interaction, but didn't pry because Leone had already said that she'd explain. However, Lubbock soon stiffened in place.

"You're actually going to help him?" _He's dangerous_. Lubbock said while watching Leone move to support Shirou. The last part of Lubbock's sentence was left unspoken but both Akame and Leone understood the meaning.

"I told you I'll explain later. Now pass me Akame too. I'm going to take them back to Calla before briefing you on what I've discovered inside."

"Right," was all that Lubbock could say as Leone took Akame from out of his hands.

Just as Leone had secured both Akame and Shirou on either arm, Shirou abruptly shook his head.

"Not yet," Shirou wheezed out panting. He was poisoned, but the clarity in his bronze coloured eyes was unmistakable. "I can't let him get away. Not with the kind of things that he's seen."

Akame's eye's widened at Shirou's words. She knew exactly who Shirou was referring to but couldn't understand how he intended on attacking someone who'd long since escaped.

"Just give me a moment to catch my breath," Shirou shut his eyes tightly while using a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose to concentrate.

Winds began to pick up, cold and unabated.

Lubbock shivered, his gaze darting back and forth for any cause of the wind but finding nothing.

Moments later, it was like a zap of electricity had run through everyone's bodies.

The wind began to pick up like an autumn storm as grass and tall reeds began to sway uncontrollably.

Radio static echoed outwards, a buzz of energy quickly growing in presence and drowning out all else.

Throughout the history of the Empire, the existence of magic had always been largely debated with the main consensus agreeing on its existence.

It was without shape, without form. Perhaps because it was never meant to be seen but 'felt.'

Goosebumps travelled up Lubbock's skin, his pupils dilating as he and everyone else soon confirmed the source of the current anomaly.

Shirou's eyes fluttered open, irises tinted with a dim glow.

"I am," the voice come out raspy, yet held a weight like none other. "The Bone of my Sword."

* * *

Magical energy flooded through him, a large majority working to locate and contain the poison in his blood through Structural Analysis while the rest was used to steady his breath.

The poison was secondary. He hadn't hesitated to consume it in front of the Lord of Hageshi precisely because he understood that it would have no effect on him in the long run. Avalon, the Sheath of the Legendary Sword, Excalibur, would make quick work of any abnormal statuses inflicted upon him. It was a sheath of potent healing. Even fatal injuries could be healed in a matter of seconds if he provided enough energy.

That being the case, Avalon was a Noble Phantasm that would consume more magical energy to trace than it was presently worth. For the time being, he couldn't waste his available energy because he still planned on a counter attack.

The Lord of Hageshi had seen him swallow a pill of poison. This meant to say, that his action of doing so had probably reduced the Lord of Hageshi's caution of him giving chase.

He grunted.

The Lord of Hageshi would be correct in his assumption. It was not him that would be giving chase, but something else. The Lord of Hageshi had made a single fatal error. The Lord of Hageshi had allowed him to draw blood from a minor graze.

A single drop had been all that he had needed.

The twenty-seven Magic Circuits within his body began to pulse and ebb while teal coloured interface patterns flashed across his skin.

"What in the?" Lubbock startled backwards at the sight and even Leone tensed from where she was supporting him with an arm.

He didn't have the time to pay attention to them.

Since he wasn't dealing with the poison immediately, its effects were causing his motor functions to deteriorate. He had to be fast.

He urged an arm out in front him and began to Trace a particular sword.

His greatest strength in Magecraft had never been about the power of his Traced projections, but in their versatility. So long as his inner armoury existed, he would never be placed in a situation where he had no means to act.

So, what if the enemy had long since escaped? No matter where they ran, they would never be able to hide.

In the history of another world; in the songs of olden times; there existed a tale of a man who pursed an elusive beast. It was a monster of man's own creation that terrorized the royal court of Hrothgar, King of the Danes. No matter who tried to purse and kill it, the beast's layer was never found, the beast too clever and meticulous.

One Hero stood out amidst the rest.

They called him, Beowulf of the Geats.

He was a brute, a braggart, but his capabilities were as unquestionable as the unique properties of his personal weapons.

Shirou zeroed in on the sword beckoning from within him in his inner world, and manifested it in his outstretched palm in a burst of magic.

The blade formed first, twisted black metal marred by an angry red. It stunk with the pungent odour of iron, leaving little doubt about could have caused the red discoloration apparent across the entirety of the sword.

It reeked of potent bloodlust to the point that Lubbock staggered back in a daze. "D-Did he just make a Teigu from thin air?"

No one answered Lubbock's question. The air was too stifling.

After the blade formed, the rest of the sword followed. It looked like an ordinary chunk of obsidian metal fashioned into the form of a double-edged great sword.

Without a moment's hesitation, it hovered over a blood stain on the forest floor.

Looking at their current location, Akame was the first to realize that she was back in the place where the confrontation with the Leader of Hageshi had occurred. This meant to say, that the blood stain that the sword was hovering over was the blood of the Lord of Hageshi.

The sword's tip lowered and touched against the drying blood.

Eerily, the blood seeped up the sword's edge, causing the already red tinted sword to pulse with red vein-like structures.

"What kind of sword is that?" Leone swallowed nervously.

The deed was done. Shirou let out a breath and turned to address Leone's question. "A special one," he said before willing the sword closer to him.

_It seeks the blood._

Already, he could feel the sword tugging towards a specific direction. There was no longer any escape. All that he had left to do was to release his hold on its restraints.

For that, he needed higher elevation. His body was refusing to listen to him so he had to rely on the support of another.

"Please take me up the tree," he said to Leone.

"Y-Yeah, uhm, right," Leone's movements were stiff. She first put Akame down before hesitantly carrying him up to stand over the branch of a tall tree. "What do you plan on doing with that?"

He considered not answering, but everyone was staring at him in trepidation. In some ways, perhaps it was justified. For the sword that he'd Traced was beginning to violently shake in anticipation.

"It seeks the blood." He said solemnly. "No matter how far you run, or where you hide, this sword will never stop until it pierces the body of its victim and bathes in their blood. Can you see it?"

He was referring to the way that his Traced sword's tip was pointing violently in a certain direction. "It can sense it's target even from here. I intend to set the sword loose."

Lubbock swallowed before staring up nervously. "Y-You've got to be joking. Doesn't that mean that that Teigu can kill anyone? What if someone tried to stop it?"

He shook his head. It didn't matter if anyone tried to stop it. The sword would not care and continue towards its target.

Lubbock took his silence for what it was: Confirmation.

Lubbock stared in disbelief, yet actions would speak louder than words.

He raised his hand once more and formed his black bow, the sight of which no longer surprised Akame, but still caused both Leone and Lubbock to shudder involuntarily.

He sucked in a breath, willing his Traced sword to approach him as he used Alteration to directly change its form. It thinned, the flat of the blade compressing into a cylinder-like structure while still maintaining its sharpness.

From the perspective of others, it appeared like a bastardized version of an arrow.

That was exactly what it was.

_Listen to the wind, it hears the call._

Legends once spoke of its name with reverence and awe.

_The call of a hunt. The scent of fleeing prey._

It never missed.

_Never ending, never ceasing. Unrelenting_

Straining his muscles, he nocked the 'arrow' over his bow and pulled with all of his strength. All preparations were completed, violent swirls of magical energy building up around him and causing Leone to yelp in surprise.

_A predator, a rabid dog._

Reach the twilight of the Hunter's moon.

His fingers loosened their grip on the string of his bow, the arrow violently shooting forward in a resplendent crimson light.

_A hound of the bloody plains._

" **Hrunting**."

* * *

It was the sound of deafening thunder. A roar of nature.

Several pairs of eyes looked up to the night sky only to see a flash of brilliant red followed by a destructive gale that caused the trees to splinter and groan. It happened so fast, but the chill that everyone felt travel down their backs could not have had been anymore real as if death had swept by them.

In the distant forest away from where the battle between Calla's forces and its enemies were occurring, another army was quickly marching to aid its allies.

"You're certain that the Lords of Hageshi, Raiko, and Houju are under attack?" The woman who spoke was riding on a horse, her sleeveless shinobi leotard accentuating her form in a way that further pronounced her lithe figure. In the young woman's words, 'if it distracted the enemy, then it served just as well for armour.'

Her name was Raiko, the current leader of the Ninjas of Jinsoku. Her hair was pulled up into a pony tail, and her eyes were naturally set into a cold expression that although she didn't tell anyone, she was acutely sensitive about. She was only seventeen since she'd inherited her father's position after his death, and every suiter that her mother introduced to her had been scared away by her indifferent expression. Even the one's she liked ended up asking her what they'd done wrong to be constantly glared at.

Moving on, her personal life was part of her own matters.

Right now, she had to focus on the situation at hand. As a leader of one of Wakoku's warring clans, the migration of her governed people towards another country was a matter she could not ignore. This was the same for all clan leaders, leading to the first coalition in Wakoku in the last few decades.

"Yes, the information is accurate," the ninja who was using a movement technique to match the speed of her horse reported calmly.

"Very well. I thank you for the prompt report." She dismissed her fellow ninja.

The ninja nodded before vanishing in a flurry of leaves to rejoin with the rest of the brigade hopping through the overhead trees.

Meanwhile, the other three leaders she was riding alongside on their own respective horses began to grimace.

"Have our movements already been noticed?" One of them asked.

"I told those fools this would happen the moment that they decided to capture groups of travelers."

"Idiots."

Raiko calmly refused to participate in a conversation that wasn't anywhere near productive. Instead, she urged her horse into a gallop in order to reach her allies faster. Noticing her actions, the other bickering leaders put aside who was to blame and increased their speed.

Just like her father had once said. The actions of one will always cause the movement of others.

If one truly wishes to lead and inspire loyalty amongst his or her men, then command unwaveringly from the front. Lead not by words, but through merit of achievement and a display of courage.

Leading the army from the front, she was the first to notice traces of movement in the path ahead of her.

She pulled on the reigns of her horse and allowed it to gallop into a stop. The other leaders soon imitated her actions. After all, the people of Jinsoku were known for their perception and ability to ascertain traps. They were born and raised as ninjas through and through. Raiko was the same.

"Hold," she raised a fist behind her and signalled the rest of the marching army into a stop.

The bushes in front of her rustled violently before a man jumped from out of them.

Raiko and the other leaders' eyes widened.

"Lord of Hageshi," she inclined her head in greeting. The other Lords followed her example. "You escaped the enemy-no never mind. Forget I asked."

The fact that the Lord of Hageshi had reached them obviously meant that the man had escaped.

"Prepare a warm blanket and supplies. The Lord of Hageshi must be tired," another Lord spoke up from beside Raiko.

The Lord of Hageshi nodded in a show of thanks. The man looked completely tired. A few blood stains marred his clothes and body, yet for the most part, the point that Raiko noticed the most was the contemplation over the Lord of Hageshi's face. The man must have had discovered something important about the enemy.

Good.

A smile subconsciously crossed over her face. With knowledge, there would be less loss. Less loss meant more of her people returning home alive.

Just as a group of people moved forward to welcome the Lord of Hageshi, something in the air abruptly changed.

_The Gods must have had been angry._

It was the first time that Raiko had ever had such a thought.

The world was shaking, the breeze shifting into a storm as divine crimson light illuminated an area in the sky and dyed it completely red.

The horse beneath her buckled and neighed in apprehension before she got it back under her control. However, trepidation was growing. Others who were not as skilled as her lost control of their mounts who quickly ran off into the distance.

Whatever it was quickly approaching in the sky, everyone believed that there was no way a human could have had caused it.

Tremors were travelling up through the ground and reverberating deeply within her chest. It was like the deafening howl of a maddened beast.

_There was no escape._

What had appeared as a dot in the horizon quickly enlarged in view as a testament to the speed it was travelling at.

It was impossible to react. It was too fast.

The Lord of Hageshi had still been in the midst of turning around to see what everyone had been looking at before the expression on his face twisted permanently into disbelief.

A twisted metal sword pierced through the Lord of Hageshi's heart like a rabid animal starved of food. The impact cratered the ground and formed cracks that soon split apart into fissures.

"W-What demon of an object is this?" The Lords beside her backed away in abject fear.

The twisted sword that had stabbed through the Lord of Hageshi's heart seemed to be drinking the Lord of Hageshi's blood. Not one drop fell onto the earth. Instead, the life fluid eerily travelled up through the grooves of the twisted sword before bleeding into it and disappearing.

For each drop of blood absorbed, a fierce red hue began to emit from the twisted sword's metal frame as if it was alive. It pulsed, the red hue around it shifting into a rich vermillion.

None dared draw near.

All could only watch in befuddlement as the weapon itself soon began to vanish in mots of golden light as if it had never existed. No weapon of man, Teigu or otherwise would ever just fade away in the same manner that the twisted sword had.

Many swallowed audibly.

_Retribution. Judgement of a higher being._

They looked across at each other.

What sort of enemy were they facing here?

She shivered before making up her mind and pulling on the reigns of her horse.

"Retreat and regroup!"

She decided that caution would be the highest level of prudence. She looked at the Lord of Hageshi's corpse and shook her head.

No one wished to be the next target of Divine Might.

* * *

Lubbock felt numb. Ever since the events of the past few hours, his body had been moving on auto pilot. Just like Leone had promised, she had returned Shirou and Akame back to Calla before making her way back to meet up with the rest of Night Raid.

In the mean time, Lubbock had done his own personal reconnaissance to disprove the words that Shirou had said only to have his expectations utterly crushed.

The Lord of Hageshi was dead.

_It really killed him._

Lubbock felt his hands grow clammy.

Speculating on an outcome was one thing, but ascertaining it was another.

Lubbock could still recall the way that Shirou had labeled the Lord of Hageshi's death a certainty. It was only now that Lubbock realized that Shirou hadn't been lying.

_No matter where one would run or hide, the sword would surely strike._

Nowhere was safe. Then did that not mean the same for him? For anyone? The thought alone was terrifying and during the course of his way back to the hideout that Night Raid had set up within an obscure cave, he couldn't help but wearily stare up at the sky.

Should he ever hear the roar of thunder on a clear evening's twilight, then surely that would have had been his death.

He swallowed before shuddering as he made his way into the obscure cave.

Mine, a pink haired brat in similar pink clothes, a shawl and dress, was on him in an instant and demanding answers that he was too weary to give. She had been too far away to understand what had happened earlier, but she was present to see a crimson comet break through the sound barrier and shoot off into the distance.

"Some other time alright?" He smiled weakly before gesturing to his fellow comrades in the room. "It's a pretty serious matter right now for everyone to be so quiet."

Mine hesitated, but shut her mouth and grunted unwillingly.

He escaped before she changed her mind.

Leone arrived half an hour later, following the trail of marking that he'd left behind on the bark of trees.

The lighting within the cave was dim, a sparse number of lit candles illuminating the dreary exterior. Night Raid had only brought the bare necessities to undergo a long-term mission. They couldn't make the cave more welcoming in the off chance that it drew attention and exposed their whereabouts.

By the time that Leone made her way in, he was leaning his back against the cave's far wall, shadows obscuring his form much like the others. This was an official mission. Not something to be taken lightly.

The only one who's features remained visible under the light of the flickering candle wicks was Najenda who sat cross-legged over a make-shift desk lined with a row of papers and mission intelligence.

Najenda was a stern woman who'd once been a High Commander of the Empire's army. She was taciturn and always level headed, but the knitting of her brows revealed her inner struggles.

One of her eyes was covered by an eye patch where her eye used to be before an injury had blinded her on one side. Said injury extended to her missing right arm which was replaced by a multi-utility mechanical limb. She wore a black suit that exposed a large portion of her cleavage behind a web-patterned inner garment attached to a choker around her neck.

She glanced up at Leone as soon as Leone arrived. The current issue was serious. A lack of information in enemy territory almost always led an Assassin to death.

"You've got some explaining to do, Leone." Najenda leaned her chin over her prosthetic arm, her gaze hardening. "What is going on? I hear that you've found Akame as well?"

"Honestly, I don't know where to start," Leone sighed. She stood across from Najenda, her arms crossed and brows knit together.

Najenda hummed in thought. She cleared the papers over her make-shift desk and devoted her full attention on Leone. Najenda's entire disposition shifted to assume the role of an experienced leader. "Then start from what's most important."

Najenda's words entered Leone's ears and prompted her to think.

It didn't take long.

She stared directly into Najenda's gaze; her expression unflinching.

"I found an Emperor."

Her words echoed.


	17. Chapter 17

In the dim lit room of an unfurnished cave, Najenda felt a headache coming on as she wordlessly dismissed all members of Night Raid so that she could think properly. Her mind was a mess of thoughts that she knew was going to take a considerable amount of time to sort through. Besides, as the leader of Night Raid, she could tell that her comrades were just as agitated about what Leone had said if not more so then she was.

To be honest, Najenda couldn't bring herself to believe that Calla was as prosperous as Leone had described. Nor did she think to bother stopping Mine and the others from verifying the information with their own eyes. It was already a lost cause when Mine had heard that Calla did not discriminate against anyone and that even mixed-blood people from the Empire's borders were treated fairly. Hell, Leone had even said that it housed people of Wakoku who didn't even belong with the Empire.

Mine had left with Leone the very instant that Najenda had given the signal for dismissal.

Another member of Night Raid, an individual known as 'the hundred-man slayer, Bulat,' followed closely behind.

Bulat was large and wearing a black shirt with green joint pads beneath silver chest armour. He was equipped with standard white pants, black boots, and a long spear-like teigu that he hefted over his shoulder with one hand. His long hair was styled upwards into a heat-shaped pompadour.

Like Najenda, Bulat was ex-military. A soldier that had once served under the Military Leader Gensei of the Empire known as the strongest of his time.

Najenda didn't know Bulat's reasons for leaving the Empire's service because she and the rest of Night Raid weren't people who would pry into people's pasts. Regardless, she could tell that it had something to do with how the Empire handled bribes and corruption. She'd heard a story once about an army commander falsely accused of a crime in order to cover up some sort of bigger scandal.

Needless to say, justice was not served, and Bulat had never been the same ever since.

Easy going as he appeared, Bulat was probably the least believing of a place free of corruption. The world was a filthy place, and there was no changing that fact. That was why it had to be fought for. Bulat was not tagging along with Leone and Mine out of curiosity, but out of embittered drive to seek out the evil hidden within lies. The greater and more appealing something seemed, the likelier it was that it was keeping an even darker secret.

Bulat grimaced while no one was looking, but Najenda had noticed the shift in his disposition. He was skeptical. Too disillusioned to hope until proven wrong much like Najenda herself. After all, even friends and colleagues meant nothing to the Empire's tainted standards. Her missing eye and arm were proof enough. She'd lost them after a scuffle with a former associate.

Najenda sighed, still waiting to be left entirely alone, her eyes trailing towards the last individual that had yet to leave her sight.

Lubbock was the only one that lingered the longest before eventually leaving. There was something about his expression that was giving Najenda the distinct impression that he wasn't informing her of something. Knowing Lubbock though, it was probably something important that she _needed_ to know, but at the same time, would probably increase her stress load. He'd probably inform her when she'd had enough time to process everything that Leone had divulged.

He was being considerate of her. The guy always was and there wasn't a day that she didn't appreciate his aid. Just that, she couldn't allow her appreciation to show in the face of all the problems plaguing the country.

Although she was an Ex-general, it didn't mean that her faith and devotion to her country were false. No. They were real which was why she was fighting to purge the malfeasance within the Empire's upper government classes. How could she pursue anything more in life when others couldn't even begin to enjoy it under the tyranny of lying politicians and advisors?

Until then, she could not afford to waver. Moreover, a game changing card had fallen into her hands. A reverse card, a wild card, in the form of another Emperor whose lineage qualified him and his existing family to inherit the Empire's throne. Better yet, Leone had described the new Emperor in question as a man of idealistic views with both wisdom and strength to back them.

It was everything that the Revolutionary Army would need to launch a formal war on the topic regarding the right of ascension. No longer would the Revolutionary Army fight under the banner of rebellion, but under the banner of rightful succession. This single shift in detail would change everything.

Could the Empire's armies fight knowing that on either side stood a rightful Emperor?

Najenda felt a chuckle of derision leave her mouth just thinking about what her former colleague, Esdeath would think of the scenario. Then again, Najenda never really knew what Esdeath was thinking. Esdeath was a woman that regarded something as cruel as social Darwinism as a basis of who lives and who dies.

No matter, Esdeath wasn't Najenda's immediate concern. Last she'd heard, Esdeath was still campaigning against the Revolutionary Army's northern front.

Taking a breath, Najenda tilted her head up and deftly pulled out a cigarette whose butt she placed in her mouth while igniting the other end with a lighter tucked in her hand.

Damn it. She was never one to smoke, but admittedly, it helped her focus when it mattered most. Fortunately, Lubbock wasn't around to swipe the offending roll of nicotine from out of her mouth and admonish her to take better care of her health. He already did a good enough job of replacing her emergency cigarettes with lollipops.

Speaking of which, her brow twitched before she pulled back the cigarette in her mouth and spat out the pungent filth.

Her brows began to twitch in frustration. Rather than the general 'good stuff' rolled into a cigarette, Najenda found ground bits of bitter candy pieces instead. Opening the rest of her cigarette pack, every single roll was the same.

 _Lubbock_.

She tossed the pack of cigarette's away and sighed in distaste, and it wasn't because of the bitterness in her mouth.

What to do now?

The revelation of a new Emperor superseded all other information that Leone gave. Other than the political effect that it would cause, Najenda was more concerned of another scenario.

A puppet Emperor.

Najenda knew that many in the Revolutionary Army abhorred the notion of a monarchy and fervently fought to oppose it and place something of a people's government. Many proposed the creation of a democratic legislation while others insisted on a government system that placed all social classes as equal.

It sounded good on paper, but Leone knew that power would inevitably work its way into the minds of new leadership and taint it from within. Rather than a single corrupt leader, a group of corrupt officials seemed far more difficult to put down. Moreover, and most importantly, she didn't fully trust those in charge of the Revolutionary Army. Everyone had their own motives and the notion of a puppet Emperor would allow opportunists to further their own agendas.

If a new Honest was created then damn the whole revolution. What was she even fighting for?

There had to be some kind of insurance in place. Democracy and a people's government was a good idea, but only if those elected were upstanding individuals. A new open-minded Emperor who could help shift the power structure of the Empire was what was truly needed most.

A Third Faction? A rising power.

Perhaps Leone had found gold in a place where Najenda had only expected danger?

The decision was up to her.

Najenda leaned her upper body forward and rested her head into her elbows.

Based on what Leone had said, Night Raid still had the advantage of anonymity regarding the situation. Meaning that no one but Night Raid had a grasp of the fact that another Emperor even existed.

She blew up tufts of her hair while thinking deeply.

The silence was stretching.

She needed definite proof.

She sat up and stretched her back. First and foremost, she'd have to verify if everything was true before doing anything drastic. She'd investigate from the Empire's history, double check every record and book while searching for any missing note. Afterwards, she'd follow Leone and the others example and make a personal visit to Calla. Perhaps Akame would be able to say something to convince her.

Then, and only then would she come to a decision.

A sense of dejavu assailed her, much like the time that she had once been in the Empire's army.

Defect, or not to defect?

The candles dimly lighting the room flickered before blowing out entirely as if the cave had never been used.

Najenda was gone.

* * *

Within an herbal smelling hut, Akame woke up with a start, her eyes blinking open before the pain in her body registered in full and jolted her into awareness. It was like electricity was coursing through her, parts of her muscles throughout her body spasming as they sporadically expanded and contracted.

A pitiful whine escaped her lips, but at the very least, the pain let her know that she was alive.

From the softness that she could feel beneath her and the bandages and splints placed over her wounds, she was on a bed and she'd already been treated for her injuries. The fact that she could still move her toes and fingers meant that she hadn't lost a limb in her recklessness.

The healers did a fine job on her, before her mind froze when she realized that Calla didn't have much in the way of healers. Sure, it had traditionalists who relied on herbal medicines as doctors, but nothing close to what the Empire could offer to higher ranked officials. Even then, that didn't mean that all injuries could be treated properly. Last she'd checked, her injuries had been severe enough to prevent her from moving her arms and legs.

In which case, she'd already thought the worst. However, her expectations differed from reality and she immediately understood why. Calla may not have had the best doctors and medical staff, but it _did_ have Shirou.

O God. Shirou.

If he had been the one to treat her than her quick recovery made the most sense. Be that as it may, it also meant that Shirou had put her health above his own again. The damn fool. She could still vividly recall the way he'd swallowed poison on her behalf.

Nervousness made its way into her mind. He was fine. Of course, he was fine. He was a Wizard. He was Shirou.

Her eyes strained against the morning light shining down over her face only to balk when a shadow loomed over her form.

"Finally awake, now are you?"

She blinked, Elaine's solemn features taking shape as the blur in her eyes faded entirely. Elaine had her glasses on and was acting uncharacteristically disheartened. There was a frown on her face and the small smile that she was giving Akame just wasn't quite reaching her eyes as any genuine smile should.

Akame craned her neck and noticed that Elaine wasn't the only one in the room. Selka was nearby as well. She had a few wounds from the previous fight, but over all, she looked fine. She was standing not too far off with her arms crossed over her chest and back leaning against a wall on the adjacent side of the room. She wasn't talking, but rather looked somewhat depressed, her features crestfallen and pensive.

If Akame wasn't sure that something was wrong before, now she was certain. There was only one reason that both Selka and Elaine could look so disheartened in her mind.

"Shirou?" She asked first about someone else's well being rather than her own, a pool of dread forming within her.

The smile that was on Elaine's face stiffened before her lips pursed together. Meanwhile, Selka shook her head without saying anything, causing Akame's breath to hitch in her throat. Those weren't the reactions that she was looking for. Far from it, the unexpectedness of their expressions was causing her no small amount of insecurity. Especially Selka. She'd always been blunt and her present silence was eerie.

"At home?" Akame pressed for an answer, forcing her self up into a seated position despite her body's protests. The dried blood over her bandages began to redden once more as her abrupt action had led to the reopening of a few scab wounds.

She swallowed, waiting for an answer. Any answer.

Again. No reply.

"In the town?" Akame didn't quite notice the strain in her voice, the sound almost chocked as disbelief assailed her like a punch to the gut. They weren't responding. No one was responding, and in the addle-headedness induced by her own injuries, she began to feel faint.

"What happened? Where is he?" Agitation was causing her voice to tremble. The last that she recalled of him, she'd seen him consume poison on her behalf. Deadly poison. With her breath hitching, a realization suddenly dawned on her like a sword stabbing into her psyche.

Her pupils dilated. "I-Is he dead?" The question sent a coldness traveling throughout her body.

Both Selka and Elaine continued to remain silent, their bangs shadowing their features as panic began to fully set into Akame's expression. Her tongue clicked as her hands balled into tight fists.

"Your joking," her voice started quiet at first before growing in volume. "It's not true!"

She tossed off the blanket tucked over her, pushed off her bed, and directly sprang into a hobbling sprint out the door of the hut. She was barefoot and wearing nothing but a clean white gown used for medical patients. She obviously shouldn't have had been on her feet at all in her current state.

Her old clothes were too torn and soaked in her blood for to continue wearing so Elaine and Selka had helped change her into a clean set of clothes, not that Akame even realized her change in attire.

Selka raised an arm in ant attempt to stop Akame, but faltered moments later when Elaine wearily shook her head.

"Let her go," Elaine said in a subdued tone.

Selka shook her head in disapproval, but heeded Elaine's advice while grudgingly scoffing in derision. "I hate lying." Selka had had enough of it. Everywhere was the same both in Wakoku and the Empire. Only Calla was different; a place without a need for lies.

Yet, Elaine had asked her and many others in Calla for a favour. Selka complied out of courtesy due to prior arrangements that she'd already made with Elaine. Honestly, it was mostly because Elaine had promised that she'd be of use to Shirou and that Elaine would help Selka get more time with Shirou at a later date.

Selka hoped to introduce Shirou to her father in order to gain her father's approval. The man had only recently recovered from a coma caused when they'd fled the lands of Heiwa. Humans could be selfish, and it was only now when offered the chance of personal happiness that Selka realized that she could be just as selfish. Regardless, it didn't mean that she had to like it or that she didn't have a guilty conscience in regards to her 'rival.'

Elaine sighed while placing a hand to rub at her temples. "Technically we didn't lie because we never said anything."

"All the same," Selka's expression tightened in discomfort before huffing in self ridicule. "We were tricking her."

Elaine moved to Selka and placed a hand over Selka's shoulder, the two making eye contact from one individual to another.

"We were doing what we thought was best," Elaine explained sternly. "There's no helping it, and no stopping it. People lie to cheat, to benefit, to swindle, and to avoid confrontations, but in the end, everyone lies. Anyone who's naïve enough to say otherwise and unconditionally trust in the words of another is either a fool, or Shirou."

The comparison caused Selka to momentarily balk, but after some thought regarding her own experiences and the memory of her first encounter with Shirou, she could see Elaine's point.

"Then I'd rather be a Shirou," Selka still remained stubborn, a red tint forming on her cheeks as her mind restructured the sentence into 'I'd rather be with Shirou.'

Selka, for all her life experiences was a simple woman to read. She was both blunt and honest, yet knew when to hold a lie for the sake of another. Elaine respected that.

"Listen," Elaine stressed solemnly. "I hate lies too. Everyone in Calla does. However, that doesn't mean that we should stop using them. What I believe matters is the intent behind a lie."

White lies. The term depicted a lie spoken on behalf of another usually to mitigate the emotional and mental pain that the truth of a matter would cause. Sometimes a lie was better than reality. However, in this case, the lie was better used to serve a point.

"Akame is a friend. A stubborn and headstrong sort of friend. Do you really think that a lecture would be enough to convince her never to do something so reckless again if she deluded herself into thinking that it was the best course of action?" Elaine could feel the scolding Shirou was going to give her for coming up with her current rues, but this was more about Akame then Shirou.

Shirou was a person who would risk his very own life for the wellbeing of others close to him. Elaine wanted to give Akame a lesson not to take advantage of that fact or Shirou's soft heartedness.

Hearing Elaine's explanation, Selka could only open then close her mouth before her shoulder's sagged. She'd been beaten in a war of words.

"No," Selka bitterly conceded the point after a short silence.

Elaine nodded before releasing her grip on Selka's shoulder and eyeing Akame's form desperately running to all the nearby resting huts and complexes near the vicinity.

"She has to understand that there are consequences to her actions, and that next time, things may not work out as well as they did previously." Elaine shook her head. "Hopefully there won't be a next time."

Because Elaine swore that she wouldn't fail again.

It was her fault that Akame was captured and Shirou forced to handle the situation on his own. If anything, Elaine was the one who blamed herself the most.

Never again.

* * *

_Not here._

Akame could hear her heart pounding uncontrollably within her chest as her growing anxiety caused her to push herself further despite the protest of her body. Her muscles were screaming at her to stop and just collapse, but her mental fortitude forced her onward.

Her feet dug into the dirt beneath her toes, mud caking over her skin as she hobbled forward on the wet ground of the morning dew.

She'd had preferential treatment. Out of all the people that must have had been inured in the previous battle, she was the only one with a personal hut to recuperate within. Then what about Shirou?

She pushed herself to walk towards the direction of the nearest building where she forcibly pushed the front door of each accommodation. It didn't matter if it was locked, she was skilled enough to use and shape a few twigs that she'd found on the ground as makeshift lock-picks.

_Not here either._

She didn't care if she was startling anyone. All that mattered to her was to search.

Not here.

Not here.

This can't be happening.

Her mind was rattling and gradually settling itself into denial. People stared at her, and in turn, she'd merely glance at them back, all the while feeling more and more desperate.

_Why does everyone look so sad?_

Everyone looked as if something important had been taken away from them, and that there was no changing the situation. She ignored their expressions despite her own growing doubts. In all the huts and buildings that were around her original resting location, she'd not seen hide nor hair of Shirou. Worse, no matter who she asked, they'd avoided Shirou's subject as if it was a difficult matter to talk about. As if he was already dead.

_Shut up. It's not true. Don't even think it._

Her eyes grew bloodshot, and when she couldn't find Shirou anywhere around her, she decided to move directly towards his home. She'd lived in Calla long enough to know the shortest path to her destination and in order to hasten herself, she cut through a forest path leading to the backyard of Shirou's house.

Artus and Ana weren't around, neither was Edwin Pollus, their instructor.

Akame had never seen the house look so empty. Generally, even if the children, Elaine, or Edwin weren't around, there would always be some sort of town hall representative asking Shirou for feedback on various council projects.

Regardless, she didn't allow herself to feel discouraged before even trying.

Laboriously, she climbed up in order to make her way to the window of Shirou's office located on the second floor of the house. Her fingers found purchase on the grooves of the wooden balance beam used as support for the second floor before she hauled herself up with a groan.

As an Assassin, she'd always been athletic, her form lithe and without needless fat. Even injured, she retained her mobility.

With one more leap, she vaulted into Shirou's office through his window.

A part of her had expected to see Shirou working silently on a document or worksheet, but the desk was untouched and unused, papers strewn around and a feather quilt irresponsibly left drying with dried ink dripped from its tip splattered onto a random parchment.

Her experience told her that no one had used the room in almost a full day or two.

Shirou wasn't here.

_This can't be happening._

She felt her mouth dry before she shook her head and dashed back from where she came.

_Her fault._

She tried searching through Calla next, not even considering just how ludicrous that statement was. How could she possibly search a whole town on her own? She didn't care.

_It was her fault._

Shirou was her hope and the hope of many. With him, the world could change. He couldn't be dead. She refused to accept such a conclusion when it was her actions that led to such a result. The final mission wasn't yet over. It had only just begun.

Left unsaid, but to Akame, it wasn't just about the mission. She didn't want to lose anyone else again.

Making her way into Calla, she felt her vision swimming as her actions were slowly catching up to her. She blinked hard to focus her mind and think.

She was walking along the street, the hustle and bustle of the market place doing little to help ease her growing headache. However, she still pressed on. Shirou was a selfless sort of doofus. Rather than manage Calla's policies from within the town hall, he preferred to walk around the town markets in order to help anyone that he saw in need.

It never crossed her mind that poisoned as Shirou was, there was no way he would be in such crowded place to recover. She was just acting frantic at this point like picking at straws.

In her single-mindedness, she really shouldn't have been in a location that was so crowded. Even less so due to her wobbling knees. She inevitably ended up staggering into a person who ended up hoisting her off the ground using two hands that placed themselves beneath her armpits.

"Easy there," it was a familiar voice. She craned her gaze up to meet concerned eyes and a towering body that dwarfed her own by a full head.

"B-Bulat," the name left her mouth before she could even register her actions, prompting the man to smile wryly. However, Bulat seemed far from happy after seeing her present condition.

It wasn't important. Instead, Akame's eyes zoomed in on another figure while simultaneously excluding everyone else.

It was Leone. Behind Bulat was Mine fully in pink shirt, skirt, and jacket, and Leone who looked at her with varying expressions of concern. After all, Akame didn't look right. Not at all.

"What happened to you?" Mine asked, the general bite in her tone replaced by sympathy.

Akame's wounds had started bleeding again as a result of pushing herself too hard. Moreover, blisters were forming on her feet and she looked filthy with dirt and mud clinging onto her clothes and bandages.

Regardless, fresh blood and a panicked expression were two things that did not belong on a healthy individual. It was common sense. Especially when it came to Akame who was generally stringent in revealing any facial expressions.

"Akame? Why are you out of bed?" Leone asked worriedly.

"…Where's Shirou?" Akame rasped out rather than answer.

To Akame's alarm, she noticed Leone's face twisting into a wince, losing much of its exuberance.

It was that same damn expression again. The one that everyone that she'd asked had been making, only that Leone seemed to have an answer for her unlike everyone else.

"Last I remember, I left him at the clinic that he runs at his request after he had finished treating you," Leone spoke with concern. "He looked pretty banged up and too pale to be normal. He looked like he was going to die at any second but he had still insisted to be left alone."

The clinic. Of course, the clinic. Akame hadn't checked there yet. It never crossed her mind because she hadn't associated Shirou, the healer, to be a patient at his own healing house.

Squirming, Akame surprised Bulat enough for the sturdy man to let her out of his grip.

She hobbled off almost as soon as her feet touched the ground, not wasting a single second. It was the most desperate that Leone had ever seen her.

Looking at each other, Leone, Bulat, and Mine decided that they couldn't just leave Akame on her own and soon went to follow behind her.

The trip to Shirou's clinic didn't take Akame long. She knew the path and knew the direction. Besides, her determination was the main driving factor.

It was her fault. It was because of her that he ate poison. Even now, she was still holding the notion that perhaps Shirou had died because of her. It caused a pit of guilt to form in her stomach laced with some other type of emotion that she herself couldn't really explain nor did she want to.

What she wanted was to just make sure that Shirou was alright.

The relief that flood through her as soon as she pushed open the door of the clinic and saw a haggard looking Shirou resting by a wall near the far side of the room was indescribable. He was next to his box of Danger Beast Bones which must have carried some sort of medicinal effect because he looked healthier than she last remembered.

"Akame?" His voice sounded muffled in her ears.

Ah, she couldn't understand why but her vision had also suddenly blurred.

Her legs collapsed from beneath her, bending at the knees, her feet sprawling to either side. He was safe, he was okay. She released a shuddering breath and wiped at her face with the back of her hands. Why was there liquid on her face? Had she been hit by poison too? It was a problem because the liquid just wouldn't stop.

Meanwhile, Shirou was facing a different sort of problem, namely, the glares sent his way by a large towering man whose arms were crossed, and a pinkette beside the man.

A part of him quickly realized that the two may be getting the wrong idea here, the pinkette had even pulled out some sort of gun and leveled it to his head. Vaguely, he heard her whisper 'trash' under her breath while the man leveled a firm glower of disapproval. The spear resting over the man's shoulder suddenly ended up in both of the man's hands, ready to be swung.

Akame wasn't really helping the situation. She was clearly sobbing yet she just didn't know it for what it was yet. The impact towards Bulat and Mine who'd never seen Akame act in such a way was explosive in anger towards someone who must have had taken advantage of Akame as unlikely as the scenario seemed. Still, Akame was a young woman who'd never experienced romance before. Bulat and Mine evidently seemed to understand something that even Akame herself could not.

Shirou realized the situation for what it was too. They were going to try and kill him.

Still, they were the least of his immediate concerns.

There was another matter that he would need to settle first.

"How you doing Mr. Emperor?" Leone said cheerily while butting in between Bulat and Mine.

Ah yes.

To his dismay, people in Calla were starting to call him Emperor.

* * *

In the distance outside of Calla's walls, Raiko, the leader of Jinsoku, was rightfully feeling disgruntled with the other leaders around her. She could only bear the brunt of the blame for daring to order a retreat when her allies had required help during the previous battle. The warriors of Hageshi, Raika, and Houju had been either been killed or captured by the enemy.

"This is why the former Lord of Jinsoku should have passed the role of leader towards a more suitable heir. Clearly one not as young and green behind the ears," an older woman, an advisor from the delegation of Soukai said in scorn.

Raiko held her anger inside of her. Now wasn't the time to protest her treatment.

She was seated among a round table with twelve other leaders from Wakoku, some of which had friendly relations to Jinsoku, others of which were enemies. She couldn't allow herself to show weakness.

The current gathering location was deep within the foliage of a forest of thick trees and vegetation. The forest canopy overhead was so dense with leaves and branches that the area beneath was dark despite the overhead sun shining down in the sky.

"If the Lord of Hageshi made his way back to you, where is he now?" A question echoed into the air, clearly targeted at Raiko and causing her expression to darken.

"Dead," how else was she supposed to answer if not to say the truth. There had been too many witnesses that day and the Lord of Hageshi's body was still around for anyone to see in the area that he'd died.

"An evident sign of your ineptitude."

"The people of Jinsoku were said to be able to uphold any obligation for the sake of honour. How shameful that you retreated out of cowardice."

They were all rubbing salt in a wound and her nearby ninjas hiding within the foliage of the tall trees bristled at the comments directed at her. Moreover, she hadn't been the only leader present when the decision to retreat had been called which infuriated the ninjas of Jinsoku all the more. They palmed their kunai and had their fingers sticking into the throwing grips of their shuriken.

Raiko gestured for her warriors to stand down. Starting a fight now would not benefit her or Jinsoku in the least. The current coalition was not made from bonds of comradery, but through necessity. Her enemies within Wakoku would be glad to see her protest and rebel so that the other coalition members could work together and kill her along with her people.

She wouldn't rise to their insults and give them the chance that they desired.

She glanced beside her towards the other men and women who'd ridden alongside her in the previous battle in hope of support, but got none. No one was willing to speak up to ease any of her pressure since they didn't want to feel any of the pressure themselves.

Selfish bastards.

She gritted her teeth from behind the half-mask that she was wearing which only covered up to the bridge of her nose. This was aggravating, yet at the same time she had no choice but to be labeled as a coward. After all, regardless of how much her colleagues insisted on a frontal attack, she always refused the notion along with the other lord who'd seen what she had seen.

It was the Anger of the Gods.

Divine retribution.

It was like the heavens had been roaring and in a sudden strike like lightning, a demonic twisted metal stake pierced through the Lord of Hagehi like a fish harpooned.

Raiko had seen many bloody events in her line of profession and work, however, this time was different. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the phantom image of a snarling blood-soaked hound leering at her from out of her mind. Rather than the twisted metal stake that had pierced the Lord of Hageshi's chest, she was of the impression that it was in fact the hound that she had seen that craved for the Lord of Hageshi's life. It was some kind of curse. It had to be. No matter where one ran or hid, the hound would follow relentlessly until it sunk its teeth into flesh.

The image was haunting. A spirit of a predator and great hunter.

Superstition ran high in the lands of Wakoku where many nations lived closely with nature. Jinsoku was no different: For to be a ninja was to be in tune with the world in order to seamlessly blend into any shadow.

The vengeful curse and spirit of a feral animal was nerve inducing.

It was an ill omen. A sign of coming disaster.

When the great wolf howled to the skies of the east, the hounds of the plains will rise with the savagery of a thousand men hiding in plain sight. It was a famous allusion in Jinsoku portraying the first leader of Jinsoku in the war against the people of Okami. It spoke of the ferocity and tenacity of Jinsoku to relentlessly throw themselves at any opposition, stronger or not until they'd made the enemy bleed.

In this case, rather than the people of Jinsoku being the hounds, they were in fact the great wolf who would eventually perish under pursuit.

It brought a chill to Raiko's heart, superstitions be damned. Before she could get a grasp at what she was really dealing with, she would not carelessly start a battle.

"If you still refuse to attack, then what do you all suggest that we do? Wait and allow our people to all migrate out of our nations?" An annoyed voice questioned.

Raiko's mood plummeted at the reminder. She and many other leaders were only involved in the collation precisely because of this reason. They couldn't wait. Every day, dozens if not hundreds of locals from Wakoku crossed the border with the Empire in order to join the enemy strong hold that intelligence called 'Calla.'

They couldn't afford to wait, but at the same time, they couldn't afford to fight either.

They would have to go about this another way.

Raika pressed her eyes closed before an answer came to mind. She slammed her fist onto the table in order to garner everyone's attention.

"A delegation," she proposed. "Demand that our people be returned while at the same time, threatening them with war."

The older woman from Soukai snorted in derision. "Threaten them with war? Weren't you the one most opposed to fighting?"

"It's a ruse. A bluff," Raiko had no trouble saying. "We say that we'll wage war, but in truth, we'll use the delegation as a probe to see the strength and weaknesses of the enemy. If things go awry, we can strike them from within and maybe grab an important hostage."

"The rest were skeptical. Who would willingly trust in a delegation of enemies enough to let them close to an important individual?"

The answer was already clear. Raiko took a breath and abruptly stood up from her seat.

For a path of least bloodshed and redemption for her failure-

"I and the ninjas of Jinsoku will go," she declared.

Deception was a concept that she and many other residents of Jinsoku were raised to discern and use at a whim. They'd earn Calla's trust as delegates, and from there she could work something out hopefully without drawing the ire of the Gods.

She made up her mind, but inwardly, she could only pray for success.

She had a mother and friends to return back to.

She would not fail.


	18. Chapter 18

On one hand Leone could sympathize with the outrage that Mine and Bulat may have been feeling for Akame's behalf, but she also knew that if the two actually took action, things were going to end really badly.

A flicker of nervousness crossed Leone's features as she not so certainly scanned her surroundings to see various passersby from Calla's street glancing over. She wasn't fooled by their harmless appearances for a second. They were watching, and watching closely at Bulat and Mine's actions.

Leone was promptly reminded that Calla was not a place where even trained assassins and military men could act out rashly. Stepping forward, she put herself between Mine and Bulat while muffling whatever choice words Mine had for Shirou wither abrupt intervention.

"Mine, Bulat," she elbowed both of them in the waist. Hard. " _Calm down._ "

Bulat raised a brow, unaccustomed to seeing Leone so serious when not out on a mission, but he complied since his military instinct warned him of nearby danger. Mine was different. She looked like she'd blow a gasket if she wasn't able to vent her anger.

Leone promptly solved the problem by discreetly putting Mine in an arm bar away from Shirou's view who raised a brow in confusion from Mine's pained grunt.

"Is something wrong?" Shirou asked in concern.

Mine's expression exploded in righteous fury at the gesture, her pink twin tails raising up into the air in her indignation. "I'll tell you what's fucki-!"

Leone smiled stiffly while forcibly muffling Mine's mouth with a hand. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong," Leone replied awkwardly. "We were just worried about Akame was all."

Leone diverted Shirou's suspicious stare by shifting it towards Akame.

Shirou acted as expected. He no longer paid much attention to Leone, Bulat, and Mine, and instead moved to Akame who Leone could only call foolish.

Akame's injuries hadn't even fully healed before she'd opted to run around Calla bare foot and in a white medical gown. The bandages around her arms and legs were coated with a fresh layer of blood, and blisters had begun forming on her feet. At the very least, Akame wasn't able to feel any of the pain that her body must have had been enduring. After all, she'd passed out the very moment she saw Shirou.

Looking at Akame's condition, Shirou moved and crouched over her without hesitation. Bulat tensed, not knowing what Shirou was planning on doing, while Mine all but glared at Leone to let her go so that she could enact righteous punishment for a man taking advantage of an unconscious woman.

Regardless of what Mine and Bulat thought, their minds just utterly blanked at what they saw next. Wound by wound, scar by scar, bruise by bruise, every injury on Akame's body was beginning to heal. From Leone, Mine, and Bulat's view, all that Shirou had done was lay a hand over Akame's shoulder. Their eyes searched for any kind of trick or Teigu that Shirou must have been using, but found nothing in the end.

"What the fuck?" Mine could not help her outburst as Leone's hand slipped away from over her mouth.

Bulat said nothing, yet the astonishment in his gaze said it all.

Leone just looked apologetically towards her shellshocked companions. In her decision to first divulge the information of finding a 'New Emperor,' Najenda had deemed all other information that Leone had as irrelevant and spent more time trying to verify Leone's claim. The intel that Shirou had the ability to heal was left largely overlooked. Now that Leone thought of it, she didn't exactly reveal Shirou's ability to create Teigu either.

Blame Najenda. It was Najenda who'd decided to postpone the briefing after the headache that the information of a new Emperor brought.

Healed but unconscious, Shirou gingerly placed one arm beneath Akame's knees, and the other behind her back to hoist her up and carry her towards a vacant bed in the room. Bulat and Mine watched his every action, but relented in their animosity when it was clear that Shirou did not mean Akame any harm.

"It's a misunderstanding," Leone whispered to Bulat and Mine. "Akame has been working as Shirou's guard as of late, and you know how serious she can be when on duty. She was probably just pushing herself to find him."

Listening to Leone's explanation, Bulat nodded his head before grinning lightly while Mine grudgingly put away her Teigu.

"Shirou, this is Bulat and Mine," Leone stepped forward and introduced. "We are all friends with Akame and followed her here out of concern, not that we're concerned anymore."

Bulat nodded his head towards Shirou in appreciation while Mine walked right up to Shirou with a stern yet bewildered expression. "How did you do that?" She pressed.

"Do what?" Shirou feigned ignorance. It wasn't as if his explanation would even make sense for anyone other than a fellow magus anyway.

"Don't play stupid, that!" Mine pointed at Akame. "You healed her!" She accused.

"I did," Shirou said flatly. "Is that a crime that I'm not aware of in the capital?"

A vein popped over Mine's forehead, her eyes narrowing in provocation because she felt like her intelligence was being belittled. So, what if she grew up in the slums in the streets of the Empire. She learned how to read and act all the same.

Noticing the fire in Mine's eyes, Mine was quickly subdued as Leone forcibly pulled her away. Already, some of the passersby outside weren't taking too well to the way that Mine was treating Shirou. The people of Calla practically adored Shirou. Mine was lucky that Selka wasn't nearby because Leone could already predict what the smitten woman would do to someone disrespecting her future husband in front of her.

Selka's brute strength alone was enough to rival Leone's own when she used a Tiegu, and this wasn't even counting the fact that her strength was the weakest among the Hunters. The people of Heiwa were absurd, but their physical strength was offset by their low numbers, so nature still balanced them out.

Regardless, Leone felt that she, Bulat, and Mine were over staying their welcome. Shirou probably wouldn't mind them staying, but Leone did not feel like taking the risk of Mine carelessly badmouthing Shirou in front of the locals any time soon.

"If Akame's well taken care of, then I suppose it's time I get back to showing my friends around town," Leone smiled while dragging Mine away with one hand, and urging Bulat to follow with the other.

Bulat waved once to Shirou before following Leone out. He knew better than to get on Leone's bad side, and besides, he was more interested in Calla as a whole after Leone's explanation of it.

"Nice meeting you," Shirou called out as Leone left with Bulat and Mine.

"See you around," Leone replied back while continuing to lead Bulat and Mine away until they were out of earshot. The awkward smile on Leone's face disappeared a moment later as she looked at Mine with exasperation.

"This close," Leone placed her index finger and thumb a centimeter apart. "You were _this_ close to picking a fight with the entirety of Calla. Did you already forget what I told you about the people here?"

Mine's expression flushed red, and all she could do in response to Leone's words was stammer out an apology.

"You can make trouble with anyone else in town but not Shirou. He may not have anything against your behaviour, but the women and people around him won't let such behaviour go." Leone huffed indignantly, her hands crossing beneath her chest. "In fact, I have a half-a-mind to believe that Akame's the same." _Even me._

Leone shuddered while thinking about Shirou's absent expression. That man was worse than a monster because in all of Leone's years in espionage, she could tell that Shirou wasn't doing anything on purpose. However, she had to admit that the expression and actions that he'd taken in order to just save Akame had moved a deeper part of herself.

The sly bastard was good. Really good.

Leone shook her head to rid her of such thoughts and decided to focus on the bigger picture. "So," she began tentatively. "Now do you both believe that I wasn't lying about Calla?"

Bulat grudgingly let out a breath while Mine shrunk in on herself.

It was all true.

It was honestly the first time that they'd ever seen people actively sharing what little they could of their food and shelter to people with more unfortunate circumstances. The first place in Calla that Mine had tried to visit was the slums.

She'd figured that there would have to be one in a place as populated as Calla presently was but she was mistaken.

Slums? What slums? Apparently, the Lord of Calla himself had opted to help build a large common home for people without housing. Food and even basic education were provided as well.

In their entire time in Calla, Mine and Bulat had yet to spot a single person depressed or uneasy of what the future may bring, instead they were all hopeful. City management was also strictly enforced and maintained by the Buckerfield family administration, and the people of Heiwa's policing of common crime.

It wasn't perfect, but the entire premise was just so bloody fucking novel that neither Mine or Bulat could believe such a place actually existed. It was a breath of fresh air and an example of what the Revolutionary Army should be fighting for.

Sheele would have loved this place if she wasn't already out on a mission in the Empire. Like it or not, all of Night Raid couldn't just abruptly stop completing their mission quotas from the Revolutionary Army, so in Leone's absence at the time, Sheele was sent while Night Raid's main forces investigated Calla.

One by one, Leone, Mine, and Bulat fell to their own inner thoughts as life continued as normal in Calla. They were only interrupted when Tatsumi, one of the people saved by Akame in the battle against Wakoku's coalition, bumped and stumbled overtop Mine who immediately spluttered indignantly.

Then again, it was probably Mine's fault for stopping in the middle of the street where Leone had dragged her and Bulat towards.

"Hey, wait, I said it was accident! Why are you pulling out a gun!? I swear I didn't touch or see anything important!"

Mine wasn't hearing Tatsumi's excuses. She was too enraged due to the compromising position that she and Tatsumi had landed in, and was even more infuriated that Tatsumi didn't even know that he'd coped a feel on her just because her chest was flat.

That was the last straw.

Death. This bastard deserved death for messing with a maiden's heart.

Leone nudged Bulat on the side with her elbow, and the two discreetly left, unwilling to get themselves involved in the crowd Mine was forming around her. Meanwhile, Tatsumi was silently begging his two friends watching in the crowd to bail him out to no effect. Sayo held Ieyasu back because unlike Tatsumi and Ieyasu, she'd noticed Mine's predicament as a fellow flat-chester herself and deigned Tatsumi's circumstances an act of retribution.

"I thought we were friends!" Tatsumi yelled pitifully while dodging energy bullets intent on hitting him where the sun doesn't shine.

Despite Wakoku's intent on invading Calla, a majority of new migrants and people were ignorant of the danger, and that was exactly as it should be. They didn't need to worry about something that they couldn't affect yet anyway.

In the end, normal life resumed on the surface despite the underlying currents sweeping across the country.

* * *

Two days later.

Legislation, management, and the ability to garner the appreciation of the people.

He was perfect.

Najenda did not give critical evaluations lightly, but what she'd seen was enough to evoke a reaction. She'd believed that she'd be in for a difficult infiltration mission, yet everything had already gone out of her expectations. Contrary to her thoughts, the Emperor that Leone had found did not loiter within a guarded palace or an estate, but actively mingled with the common masses. It was why she had been having such an easy time observing the cherished leader of Calla from the streets.

She mingled in the crowd, opting to change out of her black business suit and into something less eye catching. However, even though she'd changed into a casual white blouse and grey trouser her prosthetic arm was the real problem. It wasn't exactly common for women to have one, and even then, Najenda's was enhanced with combat features that made it too bulky to be hidden very well. It made her stand out in a crowd which was detrimental while out in a stealth operation.

Najenda as the commander of Night Raid, didn't let such an obvious problem deter her. Instead, she removed her prosthetic arm despite the discomfort that she endured while doing so. People were less likely to suspect a cripple to be the head of an Assassin unit anyway.

Besides, the added effect of only having a single arm meant that she could use the pity of others to her advantage.

Watching Shirou interact with the crowd, Najenda began to review the report that Leone had made about Shirou being an Emperor candidate. His personality, ethic, and compassion were admirable, but as he was right now, Najenda did not believe that Shirou had the steel within him to order the necessary deaths of others. He looked too green. Too sheltered.

In the end, watching him only made the theory of a puppet Emperor that Najenda had envisioned more and more likely. There were people in the world who wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of the kind of kindness that Shirou was capable of.

Therefore, why had Leone sounded so certain of Shirou when she spoke of him?

Why did Lubbock make such an apprehensive expression at Shirou's name?

More and more questions continued to emerge, and she had no answer from just spying at Shirou from the distance. He seemed like a good guy, but a good guy was not what the present world needed. It needed a strong ruler. Someone that could instil order and justice, but at the same time possess compassion and righteousness in his rule.

Shirou had a long way to go.

Najenda shook her head ruefully. She'd decided to start observing Shirou from the distance when all her sources from the Empire and the Revolutionary Army verified Leone's claim of the Emperor's bloodline.

Shirou of Calla was a Bonafede Emperor candidate.

Unsuited to be an Emperor as he was now, he was still far better than the current child Emperor being misled by the Prime Minster, Honest.

Najenda sighed. She had a lot to think about before she could even consider if the option of defection was viable in the current situation. She was interrupted from her musing by a voice from a nearby vendor selling clay tupper-ware.

"You seem like a fighter."

Najenda momentarily froze, recalling what Leone had said about Calla's residents being experienced veterans of sorts. It would seem that bit of information was correct.

She gradually turned her head around to see an old man with wrinkles in his brow, and long and greasy greying hair staring knowingly at her.

"What makes you say that?" She inquired loosely in a bid to stay in character as an ignorant passerby.

The old man wearing a dirtied wifebeater grunted while staring Najenda from head to toe. "Ex-Military too I see."

Najenda maintained her silence despite considering a course of action if her cover was blown.

"Even if I was, I ain't much of one now," she gestured lightly towards her missing arm and eye in hopes of distracting the man, but it was what the old man said next that ended up distracting her instead.

"A shame really, but it's not the worst that I've seen my city lord able to heal. You should visit the town healing cabin and get those injuries treated in a jiffy," the man shrugged and didn't seem to want to start anything major by calling Najenda out in public. "Prosthetic enhancements or not, you can't quite replace the feeling of depth and flesh, now can you?"

No. No Najenda couldn't. Even with the prosthetic arm, she was only capable of displaying forty percent of her original strength.

Her expression twisted into a weary expression as she defensively raised an arm in front of her. She couldn't figure the old man's intentions out despite not feeling any animosity directed towards. In fact, it was weird that she felt admiration instead.

The man answered the unasked question by rummaging through a sack of his belongings and pulling out an old military badge which he tossed over for Najenda to catch. Her eyes widened in recognition, the way she looked at the old man changing.

"There's no way that you'd recognize an old man like me," the old man shrugged. "But I once had the pleasure of working under one of the Empire's two strongest women in my time serving as a lowly infantryman. However, the woman I remember following before she defected was more cheerful and optimistic than the woman that I see now."

Najenda knit her brows together as if to offer an explanation, but the old man did not wish to hear any of it. "Go to the cabin Commander, and once there, I hope you take a better look at the young Lord. He's more than what he seems from afar."

The old man made shooing gesture, and when Najenda tried to press him for more details, the old man just ignored her.

Lips pursing together, Najenda eventually relented after looking at the badge of her former Empire Legion Standard and gripping it tightly in her hand. Bitter memories that she'd thought that she'd overcome once more filled her mind.

Just this once, she'd go against her judgement as an Assassin leader and follow her gut instinct as a former General of the Empire. This could be a trap for all that she knew, but the past Commander that the old man knew was a daring woman who'd often taken risks to prove herself on the battlefield. What was one more to add to her list of impulsive behaviours?

She turned her back on the old man and resolutely asked around for the direction of a healing cabin while fully knowing who she'd meet when she got there.

Minutes turned into an hour before she found her way to the supposed 'healing cabin.' Honestly, she was skeptical about the things that she'd heard about it already from Calla's residents, but the recovery of her injuries wasn't her priority. Understanding Shirou for who he was and engraining into him what he could achieve for the world was more important.

She knocked on the door of the healing cabin before stepping in when called and closing the door behind her when inside.

"Shirou, I presume?" She called out to the red-haired youth that she'd been monitoring for the past day.

Shirou was seated over a set of Danger Beast bones and perusing through his inventory of them when Najenda had stepped into the cabin.

"That would be me," Shirou replied while shifting his attention to Najenda. "And you are?" He inquired.

"You can call me Najenda," Najenda introduced herself while finding a place to sit across from Shirou. The cabin was relatively small and filled with the musty scent of wood. "I was advised to come here on the word that my injuries could be healed?" She didn't immediately reveal her true intentions. It was a rookie mistake to do so because she couldn't just demand answers from someone that she'd just officially met.

Shirou hummed in response before his eyes trailed over Najenda's missing arm and eye. He frowned, but the fact that he didn't say it was impossible for him to heal Najenda caused pause.

"I can help," he admitted, much to Najenda's disbelief. "However, I'm going to need you to close your eye."

Confidentiality? Najenda could see when someone was trying to hide something from her in an instant, but it wouldn't do for her to antagonize someone that may become the future Emperor. Therefore, rather than responding with words, she simply closed her lone eye while contemplating what sort of secret Shirou had to hide.

Could he _really_ heal her? She didn't know.

Suddenly, Najenda began to regret her decision not to force everything out of Leone about Shirou's personal abilities. At the time, she'd been more focused on Shirou's qualifications as an Emperor.

Fidgeting slightly as some kind of object was placed against her body, she merely felt a tingling sensation spread through her before the tingling gave way to itchiness. The urge to scratch became so bad that it caused her to ball her hands into fists and press her eyes tight in order to resist. That was when she abruptly realized it. She'd balled her _hands_ into fists, and pressed her _eyes_ closed tighter.

"Hold on, don't move yet. I'm almost done."

Shirou didn't need to give Najenda the reminder. She was already in so much shock that rather than move, she was worried that a simple nudge would be enough to knock her over.

Impossible. This shouldn't be possible.

"Alright, you should be good to open your eyes."

Najenda's eyes instantly snapped open, but rather than inspect her healed injuries, her sharp gaze trailed to Shirou's hand only to see 'nothing.' The object which she'd thought was a healing Teigu was not in sight and her senses alerted her that Shirou had not moved away from her even once during his treatment to potentially hide it away.

Did he honestly just heal her from a touch?

The implications caused Najenda's mind to blank, and suddenly she realized why Leone had been so tight-lipped on the matter. Slowly, and with her fingers of her healed right arm trembling, she took off the eye patch on her right eye and saw depth again for the first time in years.

For once, the Leader of Night Raid was at a loss. She had no words, her purple coloured eyes blinking back her disbelief. Forty percent? Forty percent of her original strength would no longer be her limit. She opened and closed the fingers of her right hand, the feeling now so foreign that for a moment she actually thought she was dreaming.

She waited for the catch. Some sort of astronomical price that she was now inclined to give for restoring her lost limbs back to her, yet it never came. She could see it from Shirou's expression and body language that he had no intention to charge her anything.

It was just like the locals had said. Shirou charged nothing to heal any injury so long as the injured were saved.

That level of selflessness was unheard of.

Najenda suddenly began eyeing Shirou openly, causing him to frown.

"You aren't making yourself to be much of an Emperor," she said absently. At the same time though, she had a feeling that even if Shirou wasn't much of an Emperor, he would be adored and loved.

The Emperor would not fight for the sake of maintaining his power, but the people instead would fight willingly to keep the Emperor _in_ power.

It was a mind-boggling notion that nearly caused Najenda to laugh at the ridiculousness of it, but she couldn't because it was reality. Evidently, Shirou himself was aware of it.

His lips thinned into a pout the very moment that she'd called him Emperor. That was what everyone was calling him on the streets nowadays so it wasn't uncalled for, for Najenda to do the same.

Emperor? Shirou didn't believe himself fit for such a position, but everyone else was practically willing to shed blood for such a thing to happen.

Was this the effect of having a single just and selfless leader in a world of vile snakes and corrupt politicians? The people themselves would willingly throw themselves at danger on Shirou's behalf which meant to say that his rule was guaranteed to be stable.

"I'd prefer if you didn't call me that," Shirou answered with a sigh. "I don't think myself qualified to be an Emperor."

 _Everyone else would disagree._ Najenda held her tongue about the opinions of others and instead spoke her own. "I have to agree. You won't make for much of an Emperor."

He was too soft. Too selfless to make the hard decisions from her time observing him. Still,

"You'd make a good leader. And that's exactly what this world needs." Najenda sat herself up and straightened her back to assume a more serious discussion while giving Shirou a few documents from her bag. "Read it over. Like it or not, you are an Emperor candidate, and I for one reckon that the world needs someone like you to make a difference."

Najenda had decided both in her gratitude at being healed, and because of her impression of Shirou, that Night Raid would officially pull out of the Revolutionary Army.

Reading through the documents that Najenda had given him, Shirou's expression gradually shifted into something that made Najenda even more certain of Shirou's qualifications.

So, he _did_ possess a serious side.

It was only for a moment, but Najenda had seen the face of a man who knew that softness and compassion wasn't always the answer to a problem. She was reassured.

"I won't press you into it, but I only ask that you think of it." Najenda stood up to leave the room. Shirou didn't stop her, too lost in his own thoughts. "Many people are dying at the hands of the corrupt, and you have the qualifications to directly make a difference. If you decide to fight to save the lives of the people, then I guarantee you that you won't do so on your own. Don't underestimate the strength of your own influence." You are already the Emperor in the hearts of your people, and that was what truly mattered.

Najenda reached the exit the cabin and opened the door to step out, but not before giving one last personal message. "I'm a friend of Akame, and I hear that you've been taking care of her for these past few months, so you have my gratitude."

With those words said, Najenda left Shirou on his own in order for him to come to his own decision. After all, she'd already made hers.

In the meantime, it was time to see how much of her original strength that she could now display. Running off in search of a remote area to practice, she was surprised to discover that she wasn't alone in the open meadow she'd decided to train at.

Lubbock? Was the only thought in Najenda's mind as she made her presence known.

As a skilled Assassin, Lubbock instantly noticed when someone appeared near him. It was just that when he turned around to verify just who, he suddenly believed that he'd fallen into a dream.

As soon as Lubbock laid eyes on Najenda, he thought he'd seen a ghost as the memory of the smiling Commander he had in his mind had returned to life. It was like a shocking blow to the gut that staggered him and took his breath away.

"Lubbock?"

She called out to him. The idol of his imagination was talking to him in broad daylight. A complete set of matching violet coloured eyes stared at him while a white blouse revealed two arms. Two arms.

He really was dreaming. How else could he explain it?

He was out in middle of nowhere meaning that no one else should have known that he was around. If this were only a dream, was he not allowed to express the feelings he'd felt ever since he'd enlisted under Najenda's service?

"You're beautiful," he called out to her, watching the way red slowly crept its way up Najenda's neck as she looked taken aback at the sudden compliment.

" _Lubbock_?"

"I've always wanted to say that to you. You were the very reason I gave up everything and joined the army." He looked both wistful and solemn while ogling the idol of his heart.

"If you keep staring at me like that, I'm going to flatten you on the ground and force you to spar with me till I'm satisfied."

She even speaks the same, he began to approach her in a daze, his hands reaching out in order to embrace her.

"Lubbock," his idol began subconsciously backing away. "I'm not joking. Don't test me."

"I love you." Without warning, he directly hugged his arms around the woman in front of him and nuzzled his cheek against hers even as he suddenly felt the ill premonition that he'd just stepped on a landmine.

If this was all a day dream, why did Najenda feel so real? He subconsciously squeezed his hands over her, feeling her body up and down before coming to a terrifying conclusion when he saw the amount of red covering Najenda's face.

She was real.

She was fucking real and, in her daze, he'd just coped a feel, one hand still squeezing her left breast for its pertness.

There was now a chilling cold in her eyes, and that was when Lubbock knew that he was going to experience a training session far worse that dying. Old memories as a trainee in the army surfaced in his mind.

How many fractures was he going to get today? He stared at Najenda's tomato red face and rephrased his internal question as Najenda's arms tightened around his waist and hoisted him up for a Supplex. How many bones was he going to break today?

Regardless, when Lubbock learned of what Shirou had done for Najenda, weary of Shirou or not, Lubbock felt that he owed Shirou a debt that he could not express enough in words.

Another reluctant ally was created.

Yet others liked to say that it was the start of brutal romcom.

Leone approves.

* * *

Shirou needed to think. He needed to think alone and away from the voices attempting to persuade him for a just cause, and so he found himself wandering through the woods of a hill near an isolated location of his family house's large backyard.

Akame had stubbornly attempted to shadow him out of some sort of misguided belief that he may 'disappear' if she didn't keep an eye on him, but Leone assured him that she'd keep Akame occupied so that she could actually rest. He'd doubted Leone's claim at first since Akame was a veteran assassin, but the knowing smile and increased pressure that Leone constantly applied on Akame's back to keep her pinned over her bed own was convincing enough to move him into nodding.

Elaine and his two siblings who he realized he'd been neglecting for weeks had attempted to coax him to play, but now really wasn't the time. In fact, just seeing his little brother and sister happily smiling while ignorant to the cruel nature of the world around them was something worth protecting. He actually feared that by associating with them for too long, they'd discover the darker aspects of life that he was enduring the brunt of on their behalf. He was content to do so, but now, now he was being called for more.

The sound of crunching leaves beneath his feet began to echo in the silence of the forest filled with the ambient noise of crickets and hooting owls. The light of the moon shone down from the forest canopy, illuminating small patches of the dark and narrow forest path that he was treading.

One wrong misstep, and he could inadvertently veer off his intended course. The same could be said for his current dilemma.

He was being called to be an Emperor, a revelation regarding his family's true heritage suddenly dropped upon him at the drop of a hat. On one hand, he had his suspicions about the capabilities of Calla's residents, but finding out that his father had blood ties with the Empire's royal family was another.

Left unsaid by a vast majority of those that knew him personally, but he was a legitimate Emperor candidate that was being called to create a better country and future. He could see the hope in Elaine's eyes, and Selka was practically an open book when around him. Moreover, Buckerfield family head, Elaine's grandfather had even arranged for a private meeting regarding the issue sometime later in the week. It didn't help that those ignorant to his actual views of being an Emperor were already calling him 'Emperor.'

He could have no doubts anymore about the legitimacy of his close friends claims, and he couldn't even play ignorant as planned because the Buckerfield family had a record of the Empire's history with his great grandfather's name in it.

What was he supposed to do right? It was the only dilemma in his mind.

Walking within the narrow path of the woods around his family home, he soon came to the apex of the hill where the tree-line receded to reveal luscious hilltop and a nighttime view across Calla.

He stared up at the sky, and took in a calming breath.

One constant that had always been the same between his past and present life was the sight of the moon above hiding amidst the clouds. It helped calm his mind if only slightly as memories of another childhood began to occupy his attention one image at a time, stopping at a single instance. A dear memory.

A child and adopted father sat upon a Japanese-styled porch while calmly drinking tea. The father was dying, and in that one moment in time, the boy had promised to carry on the father's will while holding a hand out as if to grasp at the stars.

An Ally of Justice. That's what the boy would be. That's what he _promised_ that he would be.

Shirou didn't want war. He knew it would happen as disputes between his birthright amidst the corrupt nobility of the Empire would definitely take the spotlight.

He didn't want violence, but at the same time, he understood through a life time of experience that just because he didn't want to do something doesn't mean that he could have that choice.

The people called for Revolution, they yearned for it due to the injustice and atrocious acts performed in the Empire and the world. Calla was the only place that was different, but that was before Calla's population had only been limited to a manageable couple hundred residents. Migrants seeking a better life that had experienced the vile acts of other powers were filled with a resentment that would realistically last a lifetime. The voices of dissent, the voices of the common people, were growing as Calla's population rapidly enlarged. It was no longer accurate to call it a town or village, but an emerging citadel surrounded by steel walls instead.

Should he turn people away then? That wasn't an option either. They were hurt, seeking shelter, and had done no wrong. Often, they themselves were the ones that had _been_ wronged.

…What a dilemma.

A cool breeze began to blow as the seconds turned into minutes while he stood alone on his own. It all led to a single conclusion.

Passivity was no longer an option. People were dying, and he could understand Akame's previous sentiment for going out and risking her life. Ironically, it was something that he himself would have done in the past if not for the tragedies that he'd experienced that broke apart his naivety. Beasts killing man. Monsters killing people. People killing people. People becoming monsters. Monsters of man.

_Monsters killing Monsters._

In his past life, he'd seen the best and the worst of others, which was why, he had been trying in his own way to carve out a different path that would still save others. Perhaps he himself had been the one that was truly naïve and hypocritical?

He didn't like death. He didn't want to kill, but at the same, he knew that certain circumstances required hard actions and decisions but had still held off on them on the thin hope that the world would piece itself together somehow. This clearly wasn't the case, and instead, the smoke of conflict was beginning to burn strong with the lives of the innocent as tinder. There was a method to solve everything. One in which, his revealed birth right now compelled him to enact.

He was no longer just the son of a deceased town leader. He no longer had to bid his time in order to draw in more people to create a large enough faction to resist the Empire, Wakoku, or Revolutionary Army- His heritage all but superseded that plan.

What the world needed now was a Hero who could take it upon his or herself to shoulder the sins of justifiably murdering others. Yet, was taking life, no matter how decrepit, ever truly justified?

He looked down at his own hands, visibly clean and free of guilt, but mentally, they were soaked so deeply in blood that he no longer knew how many people that he'd once killed in his past life for the sake of saving others.

In the end, karma had seen him pay for his actions, and perhaps this time would be no different? He smiled depreciatingly at his own sense of dark humour, but he knew that he'd already come to a decision.

_So be it._

He would respond to the calling of the masses and activate the potential war machine that was Calla. He would be their Emperor in name, and he'd change the world order upon the completion of a single operation and missive. Slowly, gradually, a plan began to form in mind. One of self-sacrifice, loss, and if necessary, self-retribution for being the catalyst that would allow the world to burn in the fires of war.

Dull magical light in the form of circuit-like patterns hummed over his skin, trailing down towards his hands which formed a black bow in his left and a sword in his right.

He wouldn't wait for the enemies to come nor would he allow those that he cared about to suffer under the constant fear of invasion.

Right here. Right now. He'd give everyone a warning. A Declaration of just what kind of power that they were dealing with.

"Trace. On." The words escaped his mouth as the necklace of Danger Beast bones around his neck began to disintegrate into pieces blown in the wind. The magical energy siphoned from the bones entered his body and thrummed from deep within him, activating the forge of his soul.

"I am the Bone of my Sword."

A pregnant pause; a flurry of wind and the movement of clouds; animals scurrying away in the dark of the forest; an unseeing wave of pressure spanning across the world.

Magic. A substance seemingly lost to humanity, once more appeared within the air of the Empire, Wakoku, and the Revolutionary Army as Danger Beasts began to howl and arise from their slumber.

_The beginning, and the end._

The sword in Shirou's right hand was gradually notched onto the steel frame of the black bow in his left. His target was the night sky ahead of him. His muscles grew tense, veins popping over his skin as he began to concentrate and flood his 'arrow' with magical energy until fractures began crawling up and over the sword. Slowly, surely, it began to break, the excess magical energy creating a storm of dust and debris.

The greatest deterrence was not that which was known, but that which was unknown.

He did not need power, lethality, or efficiency, but the weight of presence alone.

A Sword of Dawn.

His fingers loosened around the notched string of his bow, and the arrow was set loose, the entire sword bursting into a radiant orb that shattered at the zenith of its flight and rapidly expanded into a ball of hellfire. It was an attack not focused on a single point, but shot with the intent to expand as far as possible. It was gigantic, the sheer size making it appear as if a sun had descended.

Hot wind and cold air created gales felt for miles upon miles of land, the light itself illuminating the dark nighttime horizon.

It was a beacon in the night. A star for all to see, carrying the message of uncertainty and the promise that not everything in a once remote village was as simple as it seemed.

The residents of Calla looked up and felt the warmth of the light around them, Leone and Akame looking up with their breaths hitched from the glass window pane of a cabin, while Najenda and the rest of Night Raid were no different. Each had their own thoughts, aspirations, and ambitions for a better world, but the light that shone down over them made everyone feel as if they were united, for they knew only of a single person in Calla able to create such a feat.

In the distance, the leaders of Wakoku saw the star above differently. Superstition and ill omens ran high in the minds of many of them engrained in their traditions. To see the emergence of a fiery sun in the midst of a war effort against an adversary meant that some sort of divine providence was on the side of the enemy. It did not bode well, and many were beginning to doubt whether they should reconsider their objectives.

In the Empire, the kingdom and all of its residents, voices began to stir. Generals, politicians, and nobles all felt some sort of vice squeezing at their hearts as if a sign that the duration of their current lifestyle had just been numbered. Honest, the Prime Minister, did not believe in the supernatural, nor was he religious; however, even he felt a stifling sensation within him prompting him to call for an emergency summon from the northern front.

'General Esdeath to immediately return to the Capital.'

Hidden within the forest near Calla, a sole ninja's eyes flickered with apprehension before her figure vanished entirely into the foliage. Despair, grief, doubt, her emotions were apparent in her body language.

For as bright as the star appeared, it was gone an instant later. Regardless, the point had been made.

Back in the forest of his family home, Shirou dismissed his bow and slowly began walking back to his house. His back was straighter than ever before, the steel of a veteran mercenary flickering across his gaze as he resolved himself to do what was necessary for a world in need of a Hero. Yet who would break first? The ideals stubbornly kept within him, or the growing cynicism that things would only play out as they had before in another life.

It didn't matter. He'd already started on the path, so there was no longer any going back.

Smoke spread from the east, growing into embers which would soon give rise to a wildfire.

Steel that knows no loss, and steel that knows no remorse. An unfeeling blade of the people.

Justice in murder.

Let the war begin.


	19. Chapter 19

There was something different about Calla ever since the events of the Twilight Star a night prior. It was subtle, but there was a shift in the air that changed Calla from a passive stance, into an active one. For all the new immigrants of Calla, the phenomenon of the night prior might as well have been nothing more than a firework display, but for many of Calla's original inhabitants, it was anything but.

One by one, each household in Calla began preparing. They packed clothes, tools, supplies, and weapons in preparation for swift departure. Those who had been waiting for this day were all too eager to let loose after numerous years of inactivity.

There was no official statement or announcement made by Shirou regarding his future plans, but it didn't matter when all the original residents of Calla understood Shirou's personality.

Although Shirou preferred peace, it didn't mean that he didn't possess the tenacity within him to act as his position dictated for the safety and wellbeing of all.

Now that a majority of Calla's original residents assumed that Shirou had resolved himself, as promised to their deceased former General, it was their turn to help ease the burden.

And so, the foundations laid down within Calla for decades were beginning to show its fruit.

The strongest fortress of any civilization was the spirit of the people, and it had long since taken root in Calla. So long as the spirit and will of the masses exist, a civilization could never be wiped out.

You want war? Then this war would last for a thousand years.

The sentiment was all that mattered.

For a world with no more lies.

* * *

The first official meeting with Night Raid in Calla began not with any prior knowledge, but abruptly and swiftly without a care for etiquette much like Leone's brash and boisterous personality. In the midst of Shirou's office in his house, an entire group of people trespassed and made themselves at home as if Elaine was not glaring daggers at them already. Selka was debating on whether or not she should attack, but was putting off the impulse due to the way a recovering Akame was trying to placate everyone.

Although not proficient in eloquence, Akame somehow managed to calm everything down by guilting everyone into cooperation by staring at them with pleading eyes.

Soon enough, Shirou's office was turned into an impromptu meeting room.

Shirou sat over a table with Elaine and Selka standing behind him. Seated opposite to him was Najenda, and the members of Night Raid standing behind her. Akame and Leone sat near the middle of the table across from each other.

Akame kept shifting her attention from Shirou to Najenda and back, feeling as if she should be standing by one of either side, but was unable to choose. Leone, so as not to make things awkward for Akame had chosen to sit near the center of the table as well.

Aside from Sheele, Lubbock was the only other member of Night Raid missing from the meeting, but Lubbock seemed to be a taboo subject for Najenda at the moment so no one vouched to wait for him.

The only other interaction in the room was a silent exchange between Selka and Leone. The relationship between the two had suddenly become a tad strained at the moment. Leone was residing as a guest in Selka's clan and in the midst of being trained to be a future Hunter of Calla. The reveal that she was part of Night Raid was jarring to Selka who felt like she'd been lied to, and she _hated_ lies.

Leone had no excuses, but she did mouth to Selka that she'd enjoyed her stay with the people of Heiwa, and that she'd guarantee Selka's future happiness. In response, Selka became red-faced and gestured for Leone to talk with her later.

Back to the meeting over the table, Najenda knew that she shouldn't allow the silence to stretch further. It was Night Raid that had barged in, so it was her responsibility to at least explain themselves.

"I suppose this could have gone better," Najenda admitted with a hand pinched over the bridge of her nose. "But I wasn't expecting that what Leone said to be a suitable meeting space was, in fact, the office of the town Lord. My apologies."

Shirou had dealt with many similar situations before, the most extreme of which was when a certain blue spandex Lancer barged into his previous home in Fuyuki and tried to murder him for the second time.

"No offence taken," Shirou said curtly, earning a relieved sigh from Leone who'd been sitting ramrod straight from the silent chastisement she'd been given earlier.

"I told you he wouldn't mind," Leone said, but groaned when she noticed the disapproval on Najenda's expression. They would clearly be having words later, and if Lubbock's condition was anything to go by, Leone began contemplating a tactical retreat.

Leone began to inch closer towards Shirou's side of the table while shooting Akame pleading looks for bail in hopes that Akame would redirect Najenda's attention. She would get no help from her friend. Akame feigned ignorance, and Leone slumped her shoulders.

Suddenly, Elaine coughed into her hand, pushed up her glasses with her middle finger, and promptly scowled. "Putting aside the topic of whether Shirou cares about you all barging in or not, what intention does Night Raid have in coming here?"

Elaine did not wish for pleasantries and moved straight to the point. In her experience dealing with her brothers and family, the best way to get any straight answers was to be blunt and forceful. In any case, she was on the side of reason in regards to Night Raid's unannounced arrival.

Elaine's question caused everyone to grow solemn. Leone put aside her impending encounter with Najenda and resumed a professional disposition along with the rest of Night Raid.

Akame was nervous. While in the process of recovering from her injuries, she'd not been informed of the purpose of Night Raid's visit and had only been dragged along when Leone dropped by and hauled her off. As far as she knew, Night Raid was still a subsidy force of the Revolutionary Army, and Najenda as Night Raid's Head had certain obligations to fill. Moreover, Akame still couldn't wrap her head around the fact that Najenda's injuries had been healed.

All signs pointed to Shirou being the cause, but didn't that mean that he'd revealed his healing capabilities? The naïve fool! After she'd worked so hard to keep the knowledge secret in order to not attract attention form the Revolutionary Army!

Akame bit down on her lower lip, and tightly gripped onto the hem of her skirt, but nothing could prepare her mentally for what Najenda was about to say.

"Night Raid will defect from the Revolutionary Army and will henceforth be willing to act as separate espionage force for Calla."

What?

Akame took a moment to blink and process what she'd just heard, but couldn't stop her mouth from hanging open in her astonishment.

"W-Wait, what did you just say?" She asked to clarify. Was this actually real?

Akame glanced up to see Leone subtly grinning at her in reassurance while Mine grudgingly huffed with her arms crossed. Akame's gaze then turned to focus on Najenda.

"I don't wish to repeat myself," Najenda said with a sigh. "But if you're just asking for verification, then yes. My prior statement still stands."

Najenda shifted her attention away from Akame and towards Shirou where the two stared eye-to-eye from one leader to another. "Will you accept our allegiance while fully knowing the consequences of the Revolutionary Army's retaliation?" She asked.

Night Raid was in possession of a whole unit of Teigu Users which were both rare and coveted after the forging process of new Teigu was lost. There was no way the Revolutionary Army would take the defection of Night Raid lightly.

Najenda was not one to make an agreement with hidden barbs. If Shirou was willing to accept Night Raid, then he had to understand the dangers involved. If he still chose to accept them even then, then either he was fearless at the face of numerous enemy organizations, or he was insane.

"The enemy of an enemy is a friend," Shirou said in a heartbeat. "The Revolutionary Army was going to target Calla eventually, so there's no need to show it curtesy and decline your help."

For a sheltered town lord, Shirou had guts to spare.

Najenda began to laugh in earnest. "And that's why you're a fool, but perhaps that's exactly what this kind of hateful world needs as a leader. Speaking of which, I have but one final question."

Najenda abruptly hardened her gaze, the steel in her demeanor enough of to pierce through the facade of any mask and perceive truth from lie. "What is it that you see in those bronze coloured eyes that seem to stare beyond the present circumstance?"

_What is the future that you're envisioning?_

Danger and violence surrounded Calla at all sides, but the Lord of Calla himself never once doubted Calla's odds. What driving force was keeping him so confident and determined, and what did that mean for the situation within the Empire?

All kinds of speculations were packed into a single question, and despite it all, Shirou was _still_ staring at Najenda with an unwavering resolve.

"I see hope," Shirou said slowly. "Beyond the corruption and lies of those in power in the Empire, Revolutionary Army, or Wakoku, it will be the people that matter in the end. The one concept that will always hold true is the pursuit to happiness, and all evil will one day meet justice regardless of present circumstances."

The Empire too would one day become an enemy to defeat in order to liberate the people within it.

This was the sole concept Najenda focused on for the time being. "I'll acknowledge your answer and be the first to say that I've underestimated you," she said heartily. "But at the same time, you're still too sheltered to the way the world works."

Elaine glowered, but didn't know whether to be angry that Shirou got insulted, or heartened that Shirou had been acknowledged by someone of such high capability. She chose neither of the two and followed after Selka's example and puffed up her chest in pride as if she was the one who'd been complimented.

Mine snorted at Elaine and Selka's behaviour, but Najenda quickly shot her a look that warned her to behave.

"Then from this moment, Night Raid will officially join Calla's forces," Najenda said after composing herself. "We're not a large group, but we have much that we can offer. As an example, I would like to propose a plan to deal with the threat of the allied army of Wakoku."

With Najenda's injuries healed, there was a new found confidence in her demeanor that allowed her to act bolder. However, the largest change came not from Najenda, but Shirou himself who remained unperturbed at Najenda's abrupt proposal.

He seemed thoughtful and game a customary smile as a sign for Najenda to elaborate.

If Akame noticed a difference in Shirou's bearings, she didn't voice it because she had no way of describing it. It was like something about him had faded, the easy-going nature of his smile that she used to know replaced by something wryer and more reserved.

His smile wasn't genuine then? Was that it? No, it couldn't be.

Akame skirted around the issue, and felt that it must have been nothing major. Shirou was still smiling so wasn't that enough? Regardless of Akame's thoughts, the conversation still went on.

"How do you cripple an organization?" Najenda asked Shirou leadingly.

Akame and many others in the room expected Shirou to struggle with the question due to the lack of danger in his upbringing, but Shirou was quick to answer much to everyone's surprise.

"If you want to stop the organization of an enemy, you must start at the head," Shirou spoke with certainty. There was a steel in his tone that denoted experience, and it came as a bit of a shock how simple he was treating the matter of killing the head of an organization to be.

And suddenly Akame felt distinctly uncomfortable. The feeling that something was off about Shirou only grew more pronounced like he'd become someone else, but it wasn't as if she could do anything about it.

_With the same hands that had murdered thousands, could a monster like that still be deserving of a peaceful life?_

The sword would no longer be sheathed: A blade to be directed at an enemy.

Akame glanced worriedly in Shirou's direction, but soon relaxed when she saw the same determined light in Shirou's eyes. His fire still burned strong with his ideals.

Concerned or not, Akame consoled herself on the fact that Shirou was still Shirou. The Hero she'd come to believe in.

Najenda blinked before grinning. "So, you _do_ get it," she said approvingly. "As the leader of Night Raid, I propose silently dispatching the enemy's leaders, and any one of Night Raid's members should be able to accomplish the task."

Elaine raised a brow. "Alone? Even for an Assassination organization, it doesn't excuse you from the risk of danger."

Najenda seemed to be expecting doubts, and therefore prepared a solution in advance. "What do you think is the best method of assassination?" She asked openly.

"Sniping," Shirou said without any hesitation. Other forms of assassination could be good and all, but shooting from a distance always imposed minimal risk in the case of ample preparation.

Again, Najenda was beginning to realize that she may have to re-evaluate her initial assumption on Shirou. Either he was book smart, or his late father had taught him more about war and tactics then what Najenda could hope to assume.

"You are correct," Najenda didn't beat around the bush. "Mine, please step forward."

Mine stepped forward from behind Najenda's back and readily revealed her gun-type Teigu with a trump card that could enable it to be a giant beam sword. She'd been briefed by Najenda about what to do during the meeting long before the meeting actually took place.

"This is Pumpkin," Mine introduced proudly while laying Pumpkin on the table for all to see. "It's a long-range sniping Teigu that I will use to eliminate the required targets."

"Although we can't guarantee being able to eliminate every leader with just Mine alone, we'll be sure to eliminate the one's that count," Najenda assured.

"Does anyone else have a long-range Teigu in order to defeat all the leaders? Or barring that, a person in Night Raid with enough skill to snipe everyone?" Elaine inquired. "I was taught early that leaving loose-ends is a horrid practice."

At the question, Mine suddenly stiffened while Bulat, and the rest shook their heads and stared at Najenda.

Pumpkin was originally Najenda's Teigu and naturally it was the weapon she was most proficient with. If there was anyone who could pull off what Elaine had just asked, it was Najenda herself. However, she made no indication of trying to reclaim Pumpkin back. If she did so, Mine would have no form of attack, and as a leader, Najenda would not endanger her subordinates.

"I'm afraid not," Najenda said with a straight face. "We're currently lacking in such equipment since Pumpkin is the only long-range Teigu Night Raid currently has."

Elaine frowned in understanding. "I see, a pity then."

"It doesn't have to be," Shirou suddenly spoke up, garnering all attention towards him. He'd been keeping silent and listening to Najenda's proposal, but felt that he could not do so any longer.

Najenda was not only acting on Calla's behalf, but had officially become Calla's ally. If Shirou could help, he was going to help. Besides, he could see just from the way Akame worried over the rest of Night Raid's members that they weren't all bad people.

_Genuine trust could never be fostered through lies and deceit._

This was the one universal concept of any world.

"I suppose I shouldn't hide my capabilities from allies," Shirou said slowly under the attention of all.

A breeze began to blow in the enclosed room, prompting Najenda and the others to furrow their brows. None of them could understand where the wind was coming from, and yet it was only growing stronger.

_'Trace. On.'_

In the recesses of Shirou's mind, he activated the magic of his craft. "If having only one Pumpkin is the problem," he opened his hand, palm facing upward as tendrils of magical energy converged overtop with the sound of static. "Then what if you had two?"

The air stilled, the buzz of unseen energy emanating outwards rapidly over the center of Shirou's palm. A ball of tangible teal-coloured light formed, writhing with wisps of lightning that zapped the area around.

Elaine grew startled, Selka opening her mouth in wonderment. None of them could understand what was going on, and that was when Akame leaned over and whispered a single phrase aloud. "He's a Wizard," she shared.

And what was the root of a Wizard's strength that was said to exist in the world, but has never been proved?

Magic.

Shirou's gaze focused entirely on Pumpkin, his free hand touching its surface and analyzing its build as the Danger Beast bones hidden beneath his clothes began to vanish.

"Judging the concepts of creation."

The familiar words of his youth in another world escaped Shirou's mouth as he fell back into old habit. The light over his palms grew denser and denser with each word.

"Hypothesizing the basic structure."

Circuit-like patterns formed over the surface of Pumpkin's metal exterior, enveloping it in its entirety before receding back into Shirou's hand much to the muted shock of the onlookers. What they were seeing, what they were experiencing, was something whose equivalent was lost through time.

"Duplicating the composition material."

The ball of light hovering over Shirou's right hand began to distort and bend, taking form within the air and shimmering from concentrated energy that singed the table.

"Imitating the skill of its making."

A humming noise began to fill the room, the clinking of metallic parts seamlessly converging together and creating the base outline of a weapon both Mine and Najenda knew all too well.

"Sympathizing with the experience of its growth."

Design and method, all was known, nothing lost. From a shapeless outline, the hard exterior of carefully crafted steel began to take shape down to the tiniest detail. To the trigger, to the grooves, and edges, it was perfect.

"Reproducing the accumulated years."

Age came next. Every scrape and dent, all the damage it had ever taken and experienced were part of a weapon's history of effectiveness.

"Excelling every manufacturing process."

The light exuded from the weapon forming over Shirou's palm became blinding, forcing all to momentarily turn away. When they all looked back, it was to see a sight that none of them could have ever had imagined.

"Weapon Class Teigu Pumpkin: Complete."

A second Pumpkin was hovering over Shirou's palm which he soon handed over to a stunned Najenda to inspect. How could she not be able to recognize her own weapon? Yet in this moment, Najenda could not differentiate the difference between the Pumpkin on the table, and the Pumpkin in her hands. They were identical down to the finest detail.

No one could speak, even Elaine who arguably knew Shirou the longest was left breathless.

Could it be that the lost art of Teigu forging had actually been inherited by the sibling family of the original Emperor? It was the only logical thought in Elaine's mind since all Teigu were said to have been created with Magic as a required component.

While the others remained in muted shock, Akame could not contain her surprise. She knew that Shirou could create Teigu, but she'd never thought that he could replicate them. Then what of her Murasame? Could he make that too?

The answer was something she already knew, but didn't wish to accept, as Murasame came with its own drawbacks that she didn't want Shirou to have to ever experience. She pursed her lips and prayed that he'd never have to resort to using her weapon.

Different from everyone else, Najenda saw the entire situation from a more militant perspective as a former general.

She was no longer looking at Shirou as just a sheltered Town Lord, but something that could alter the very nature of any battlefield.

A Walking Armoury.

* * *

Deep in the land around Calla's walls the leaders of a platoon of the allied Wakoku army preparing for battle weren't as inconspicuously hidden as they believed. It was the folly of arrogance and a lack of information.

The first mistake was overconfidence, the second mistake was camping on lower ground.

Shirou, Najenda, and Mine stood over a plateau overlooking a deep valley where the army leaders of Wakoku were convening for what must have been some sort of strategy meeting. The camp was divided into separate divisions clearly based on rank. Those of lower status such as the common soldiers were by far the largest group in camp and were separated by marked dividers to prevent their entry into the more lavish tents owned by those of higher status. Many camped on simple bed rolls and were eating dried rations for meals. Their armour was dirty and of poor quality, and many appeared malnourished from the long march from the lands of Wakoku to Calla.

"Idiots," Mine said derogatively with a sneer while setting up her Pumpkin for long-range sniping. She'd changed out of her pink overcoat and wore something closer to camouflage to prevent being seen on Najenda's instruction.

Shirou and Najenda were less vocal, but the wry smile on Najenda's face spoke of her unsaid sentiments. The stupider the enemy acted, the easier it would be to differentiate targets.

With the lowest ranking soldiers segregated away from the higher ranks, it was far too simple to spy the identities of those in command. They stayed in the most extravagant tents and often brought furniture along to war in order to seek comfort in the night.

"One, two, six," Najenda began counting off prominent leaders with narrowed eyes. She shared her information with Mine who simply nodded.

As for Shirou, neither of the two were really sure why Shirou had come at all. He clearly wasn't carrying any long-distance Teigu; however, Najenda and Mine didn't voice their thoughts aloud. How could they?

What Najenda and Mine had seen Shirou do the other day could not have been anything else but Magic, and Magic was something that was impossible to wrap their minds around. Perhaps he actually did have a method to help? Why else would he have come?

Realizing that she'd been staring curiously at Shirou for too long, Najenda turned her gaze away, but not before Shirou said something completely outrageous.

"I'll deal with the furthest group," Shirou said.

The furthest group? Did he not mean target? Both Mine and Najenda thought at the same time. Meanwhile, the two scoured through the enemy ranks ahead in search of what group Shirou was referring to before blanching.

"N-No way," Mine couldn't help the stutter that escaped her lips. Rather than continue searching for which group Shirou was referring to, she had instead followed Shirou's line of sight to see what he was staring at.

The Allied Army of Wakoku was not located in a single location. Alliances aside, but many clans in Wakoku were at odds with each other, and as such, would definitely not camp in the same area given the choice.

The 'group' Shirou was referring to was not a fucking group. It was an entirely different platoon over 3km away and obscured by dense forest!

Mine was beginning to feel her sanity stretching beyond her belief. She'd let Shirou get away with mistakenly calling a target a 'group,' but this was different. "Are you crazy? They're way to far!" She yelled in chastisement.

Shirou didn't answer. Actions spoke louder than words.

Najenda quieted Mine down. She could tell when a man was bluffing from the change in their expression, but Shirou's remained chillingly neutral. Was Magic really capable of such a feat, and what would happen if everyone learned to harness it?

Wouldn't the wars already fought reach a scale beyond recognition?

Even for someone as battle-hardened as Najenda, she shuddered at the thought.

"Mine, focus," Najenda said in order to collect her mind. "The mission always comes first."

Mine nodded, but the skepticism in her eyes remained.

The targets were over 3km away and obscured by dense forest. Even Najenda could not understand how Shirou was planning on pulling such a feat off.

Mine scoffed as she readied her weapon and awaited the signal to fire. Her and Najenda's targets were around a kilometer-and-a-half away which was just beyond Pumpkin's range, but due to the difference in elevation, the distance factor was mitigated substantially.

Meanwhile, Shirou sucked in a breath.

_With one hand he saved, with the other, he reaped lives as easily as pulling out weeds._

He'd long since thought that he'd abandoned such a way of life, but there was simply no escape: Not when the world itself seemed to be structured in a way that could only beckon him to act in all its rife injustices.

A Hero was needed, not a strong one, or a valiant one, but one who could get the job done.

Even a Villain could be a Hero in this setting.

Shirou shut his eyes and reached deep within himself.

_You are a hypocrite._

He was going to kill again.

Shirou opened his eyes, and all form of emotion just seemed to smother itself to the core of his being. The irony of the situation was that he'd once lectured a certain Saber about the mental burden of shutting herself off only for him to resort to the same method of coping.

What would someone as valiant and righteous as her say to him now?

_"Keep walking forward. The ideals you carry, your passion, and your pain, are all something that I understand all too well. Your goals are noble, your heart in the right place, but some things are inevitable. You are not wrong."_

He wasn't wrong. For the sake of saving others, even his own humanity was not something to be taken into consideration.

Shirou extended his hands outward, a bow forming in his left, and a spiraled sword in his right.

Indifference. Callousness. Najenda was all too familiar with the feeling as an Ex-General and Head of an Assassination unit, but she'd never expected to see such attributes in a sheltered town Lord. It almost caused her to shiver.

A heavy pressure descended, unseen, but felt by all. To Najenda and Mine, the world around them grew sluggish, the light exuding from Shirou's bow and sword revealing the colour of a violently swirling rainbow.

Shirou's concentration reached its peak, the resolve within him manifesting in the form of an attack that would guarantee the deaths of all targeted in his gaze.

-A Sword of a King who'd foregone his own right to the throne.

-A Hero that worked for his country not as its rightful ruler, but a hearty warrior of old who's revenge was never fulfilled.

Rage forth and bring about all destruction!

A show of fury and outrage.

The hill toppling sword of full-scale annihilation!

"Twist and bend," Shirou nocked the sword over his bow, dense magical energy manifesting at the sword's tip that began to shimmer the air itself. "My Core of madness."

The twang of a bow resounded as the grip of Shirou's fingers abruptly released and set forth the storm.

"Soar, Caladbolg."

A gale of wind forced Shirou to brace his legs, his feet digging crevices into the ground beneath him as his vision began to swim from the dip in magical energy. Unprepared, Najenda and Mine were forced to shield their eyes from the blowing branches and dirt uplifted into the air.

All the while, a drill of blue light reached the enemy campsite in an instant, moving at speeds no human could ever hope to react to.

And then…And then the world trembled.

Ashes, fire, and smoke created a mushroom cloud that sent shockwaves out in all directions. Pieces of splintered wood and debris began falling from the sky like rain, creating mass paranoia when charred remains carried in the wind pelted the neighboring campsite.

Najenda and Mine used the distraction to snipe their targets one by one when they rushed out of their tents to see what Shirou had done.

The mission was a success. There were no doubts about it, and the fact that Shirou had just eliminated an entire camp of enemies meant that there were less adversaries to worry about.

Calla would face less deaths because of Shirou's actions, and yet, for a brief moment, a trace of abject fear manifested in Mine's expression. She glanced down at her hands to see them trembling with a white-knuckled grip.

This wasn't a human; this was a monster.

Only Najenda maintained her composure. This wasn't the first time she'd worked with someone whose powers were beyond human imagination. She'd simply traded an Esdeath for a Shirou.

Hidden several meters away out of caution, a figure in the foliage of the trees shuddered in despair before hastily retreating.

This was all just too much.

* * *

Wandering within Calla's boundary enroute to a certain destination, a pale-faced individual couldn't stop herself from shaking. She wore a form-fitting fish-net armour with black tinted sleeves and leg bracers that concealed a set of kunai. She was the leader of the Ninjas of Jinsoku, Raiko, but right now, she just seemed like a young woman in over her head.

She didn't know what to do anymore. As the leader of Jinsoku, her stealth skills were the highest in the clan, and she'd decided to act pre-emptively after the delegation sent by the allied army of Wakoku was flatly rejected. Over the last few days, she'd been stalking around Calla in order to seek an opportunity to either cripple or kill with the main priority to single out an important hostage.

She chose Shirou, the Lord of Calla as her target. The tallest trees attracted the most attention and she felt that if she could capture him, the allied clans of Wakoku could end the entire conflict without bloodshed. However, the more she had tailed Shirou, the more despondent she became.

He wasn't human. What kind of human could wield such mystical power?

She couldn't understand it. _No one_ could possibly understand it.

Raiko had heard talks from those close to Shirou when she'd dared venture near Shirou's family house. They spoke of a single word that never failed to repeat itself in in her mind.

Magic. Magic of all things.

How was anyone even supposed to guard against something they couldn't hope to comprehend?

Raiko couldn't help but grow fearful. She made a small gesture with her hands, her fingers crossing together and forming the shape of an arrowhead. The ring fingers were crossed over each other, and the tips of the middle finger were touching at a forty-degree angle.

It was a sign of prayer.

In the legends of Jinsoku, only those blessed by the Gods were said to be able to use the lost art of Magic and were to be revered. The fact that Shirou was able to use Magic meant that to Raiko and everyone in her clan, they were fighting against a 'Blessed Son.'

The omen of death that had taken the life of the Lord of Hageshi came to the forefront of Raiko's mind, causing her to grit her teeth and force back her trepidation.

To fight a Blessed Son was to go against the wishes of a God. What sort of Divine retribution would be enacted for her actions? The thought was crippling.

She'd heard that Shirou had younger siblings, and although they may be easier to capture, intuition warned her that they were probably the most well defended siblings in all of Calla. Worse, capturing them would set their elder brother's attention fully on her, and that risk was far too high to ignore.

Wallowing in the despair her situation placed her in, Raiko had come to a decision.

Even if it meant abandoning her principles.

Even if it meant disgracing her honour.

The prosperity of Jinsoku would always be her highest priority.

Raiko spied her target from her position high among the foliage of the trees behind Shirou's main house. It was late in the evening, and she'd noted that Shirou in particular always seemed to find the time to contemplate certain issues she was not privy to on his own. He'd sit on a wooden terrace in the forest he'd carved from wood, and sip quietly on a cup of warm tea while staring out at the moon.

This was the opportunity Raiko was waiting for. Without a second's hesitation, she planted her feet firmly into the bark of the tree she'd perched on, and hoped directly towards him. Her muscles slackened as the feeling of free-fall caused her gut to sink. She then curled her back in preparation to roll and mitigate the impact of her descent.

Rather than crash into the ground, Raiko landed without a sound as expected of a leader of her station. In the dark, she looked nothing more than a silhouette in the shadows. Obviously, Shirou took note of her, but rather than show weariness at her arrival, she noted that Shirou seemed all too accustomed to random visitors in the night.

Akame's initial entry into Calla had been no exception.

Shirou just looked at Raiko with a patience that bordered on saintly.

"The fact that you didn't try to kill me just now is already a good start from other people that I know," Shirou said offhandedly.

Raiko sweat dropped and actually felt a moment of pity for the man in front of her, but snapped back into attention at his question.

"Now, is there something you need from me?" Shirou asked while putting his cup of tea away.

Raiko raised her arms up in the air in a disarming gesture. "I want to offer a proposition of surrender from the Jinsoku clan," she said boldly. "In turn, the ninjas of Jinsoku will pledge allegiance to Calla."

"You're from Wakoku?" Shirou actually appeared surprised. He quickly calmed himself to the fact that an enemy had made it so deep into Calla's territory despite the capabilities of its inhabitants. "What makes you so sure Calla should accept your allegiance?"

Shirou contemplated confiding with Elaine before making a decision, but Raiko's answer caused him to reconsider.

"I can tell that you don't wish for a prolonged war," Raiko hit the nail on the head.

It was true. The longer the battles, the more deaths mounted on either side. This was why Shirou had foregone a neutral stance and had went with Najenda and Mine to launch a pre-emptive assault.

"What if the Ninjas of Jinsoku revealed a path into the heart of Wakoku? A location where all its Lords convene for political matters and not just army leaders?" Raiko pressed.

The conflict would end. The answer was as simple as that unless new leaders were elected and opted to continue battle. In the case of Wakoku where its citizens were all immigrating to Calla enmass in the first place, the odds were unlikely.

This was a golden opportunity. Shirou didn't have to be a strategist to understand how valuable Raiko's offer was.

"What is that you want in exchange?" Shirou got right to the point.

Raiko only had one desire as the head of a clan known for its espionage and silent killing. There was only a single method that could turn the disgrace of being labeled a 'turncoat' into an honour.

A game of perspective.

"Unite the Warring Clans of Wakoku."

Only the winners may rewrite history.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for Reading!


End file.
